Head of Israeli diplomacy, Yair Lapid, denied spying allegations brought about against Moroccan intelligence by the Pegasus journalistic investigation, specifically involving the alleged hacking of the French president’s phone, Emmanuel Macron.
During an interview with the French newspaper “Le Monde,” the Israeli minister additionally refuted accusations against Morocco which were relayed by the same newspaper.
Lapid provided the French newspaper with new information about the Pegasus spyware case in the new interview.
According to the high-ranking official, “no one has infiltrated the phone of the president using NSO’s Pegasus software,” he said, emphasizing that his government is doing everything it can to determine the truth in the wake of the Pegasus investigation.
Yair Lapid recalled, once again, that NSO remains a private company, and that its controversial software is limited to “fight terrorist organizations and serious crimes.”
The head of Israeli diplomacy reminded that the license is given to NSO “is very strict,” revealing he and his government disclosed “all the material they had” to French authorities, drawing the conclusion that this is not an inter-state matter, because the company is privately owned.
Lapid called Emmanuel Macron “one of his personal friends” during the interview, hammering the narrative that the French president had not been subject to spying via the Israeli software.
France and Israel had held talks in Paris back in October, aiming to defuse supposed tensions over the Pegasus crisis.
According to US news outlet Axios, Israeli national security adviser, Eyal Hulata visited the French capital to meet with his French counterpart Emmanuel Bonne.
The Israeli official briefed Macron on the “ongoing Israeli government’s investigation,” and proposed solutions to end the bilateral tensions resulting from the Pegasus affair.
The Israeli proposal, according to the same source, allegedly includes a provision that prohibits the hacking of French phone numbers “in any future spyware deal between an Israeli firm and a third country.”
The alleged involvement of Moroccan intelligence has been refuted by many, called “unconvincing” and “unlikely,” with many cyber security professionals calling the possible hacking of the French president’s phone “an impossible mission,” in light of the many precautions taken by Elysé security protocols.
Several senior French figures such as the former ambassador of Paris in Washington, Gerard Araud, and presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, are skeptical of the accusations against the Kingdom.
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