Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz assured his French counterpart Florence Parly on Wednesday that his country took "seriously" the allegations of espionage concerning the Israeli software Pegasus, suspected of having also been used against journalists, activists but also against President Emmanuel Macron.
While visiting France, Benny Gantz "broached the NSO subject (Editor's note: the Israeli cybersecurity company that designed Pegasus) and declared that Israel was taking the allegations seriously," the Israeli Defense Ministry noted in a statement.
The Israeli Minister of Defense "stressed that the State of Israel only gave authorizations for the export of cyber products to States and only to fight terrorism and crime," the ministry statement said.
For its part, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces explains that Florence Parly "has indicated to her the clarifications which are now awaited by France, and on which the trust and mutual respect between our two countries depend".
Read also A targeted Macron phone: Pegasus, this formidable spy tool
The minister had already indicated on Tuesday that she wanted to take the opportunity of this long-planned bilateral meeting to find out "what knowledge the Israeli government had of the activities of NSO clients" and how it intended "to prevent a diversion of these highly intrusive tools. ".
It was the first meeting between the Israeli Minister of Defense and his French counterpart since 2013, said the Ministry of the Armed Forces.
Pegasus, which allows infiltration of computer systems, is at the heart of a global spy scandal revealed in mid-July by 17 media outlets.
It would have made it possible to spy on the numbers of at least 180 journalists, 85 human rights activists or even 14 heads of state including French President Emmanuel Macron, which the NSO company denies.
According to the newspaper Le Monde and Radio France, numbers of Emmanuel Macron as well as those of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and 14 members of the government, including the head of diplomacy Jean-Yves Le Drian, appeared "in the list. numbers selected by a security service of the Moroccan State, user of Pegasus, for potential piracy ”.
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"If these facts are proven (...) we will draw all the consequences, but first it must be proven that they are true", advanced the spokesman of the French government, Gabriel Attal, at the issue of the Council of Ministers, stressing that "verifications" were in progress.
Regularly accused of playing into the game of authoritarian regimes, NSO assures that its Pegasus software is only used to obtain information on criminal or terrorist networks.
The Israeli Parliament has set up a commission to investigate allegations of "misuse" of Pegasus by some states to spy on public figures.
Benny Gantz informed Minister Florence Parly that "official representatives visited the NSO offices on Wednesday," the Israeli defense ministry said, without giving further details.
The Israeli minister also took stock with his counterpart on Iranian nuclear power and on the regional “threat” that Iran represents in Israel's eyes.
He also spoke with Bernard Emié, the boss of the DGSE, the French foreign intelligence.
