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- BY MAKNOON WANI<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
Israel has developed one of the most advanced surveillance industries in the world. With government support, companies like the NSO Group have been offering their services to authoritarian regimes to help them clamp down on political dissent.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
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<\/div>\n Israeli cyber company NSO Group in the Arava Desert on November 11, 2021 in Sapir, Israel. (Amir Levy \/ Getty Images)<\/h5>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n
\n\n\nIsrael\u2019s surveillance industry is one of the most advanced and prolific in the world. A unique environment of legal enablement, partnerships between private firms and the Israeli military, and the availability of Palestinians as\u00a0free test subjects<\/a>\u00a0has allowed the country to become a world leader in surveillance tech exports.With around twenty-seven surveillance companies, Israel has one of the\u00a0biggest clusters<\/a>\u00a0of such manufacturers in relation to its size. The NSO Group\u2019s Pegasus is a sophisticated form of spyware categorized as a military export by the Israeli state and only sold with its express permission. Like other surveillance manufacturers, the company is licensed by Israel\u2019s Ministry of Defense.<\/p>\n Pegasus is especially dangerous because it can be planted secretly, giving the attacker total control over a victim\u2019s mobile phone. It effectively undermines all the modern security features like encryption and turns a smartphone into a smart listening device. It can also copy messages, photos, and emails as well as recording calls.<\/p>\n
Investigations have revealed that Pegasus was used against the inner circle of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered by Saudi intelligence in 2018. Over the last decade, several reports have also revealed the use of Pegasus against journalists, activists, and political dissidents in various countries. The spyware has facilitated assassinations and severe human rights violations by authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and South America.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
\n Israel and the United States<\/h1>\n
Israel\u2019s authoritarian tech exports serve the dual purpose of generating profits and fostering its military and diplomatic ties with client countries. Although this trade is done at the expense of human rights and free speech, the United States and its allies continue to take a permissive approach to the NSO Group and the pervasive Israeli surveillance industry.<\/p>\n
Over the last four years, the United States has announced several steps to regulate the private surveillance market. In February this year, Washington imposed visa restrictions against those selling and abusing commercial spyware. The ban followed an executive order passed in March 2022 that prohibited US government agencies from purchasing such spyware.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s authoritarian tech exports serve the dual purpose of generating profits and fostering its military and diplomatic ties with client countries.<\/q><\/h3>\n
In November 2021, the US Commerce Department blacklisted the NSO Group and another Israeli firm for supplying spyware to foreign governments engaging in political repression. A\u00a0joint statement<\/a>\u00a0released in March 2023 by the United States and its allies called for the regulation of commercial spyware. However, it failed to mention the NSO Group or Israel \u2014 the industry leaders who continue to export the technology for commercial and political benefits.<\/p>\n
The NSO Group and other Israeli spyware manufacturers are integral to the country\u2019s security and diplomatic establishment. For all practical purposes, they are an extension of the Israeli state. However, there has been no explicit diplomatic pressure on Israel from Washington or its allies to put an end to the export of these malicious technologies.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
\n Big Tech Backlash<\/h1>\n
The major US tech companies \u2014 Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon \u2014 possess immense resources and lobbying capabilities. They have filed lawsuits against the NSO Group and publicly condemned them as \u201ccyber mercenaries.\u201d This hostility stems from the fact that Pegasus undermines the technological architecture and the privacy\/security narrative in which these companies have invested through decades of marketing and public outreach.<\/p>\n
In addition, the spyware also jeopardizes the fundamental business models of these companies. In 2022, the Pentagon\u00a0awarded<\/a>\u00a0a joint $9 billion cloud computing contract to four major tech companies. The ability of a minuscule spyware company to undermine their security can, therefore, have severe consequences for future defense contracts.<\/p>\n
The big tech firms and the NSO Group have diverging interests, and that is reflected in the actions of the US government.<\/q><\/h3>\n
Clearly, the big tech firms and the NSO Group have diverging interests, and that is reflected in the actions of the US government. The superior influence and money-backed lobbying of American tech might explain why the US government has leaned toward banning the NSO Group and other spyware companies within its territory.<\/p>\n
Yet while the NSO Group may have lost its market in the West, that has not deterred it from trying to use the Gaza war to revive itself. It has volunteered to play a role in Israel\u2019s war effort, marketing its attempts to help trace missing Israelis and hostages.<\/p>\n
A month into Israel\u2019s war on Gaza, the NSO Group wrote a letter to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and officials of the State Department to request a meeting. Experts termed the outreach a desperate attempt at \u201ccrisis washing<\/a>.\u201d In the last few years, the company has spent millions to lobby US lawmakers and get off the government blacklist. It is now seeking to capitalize on Israel\u2019s Gaza war, which has killed more than thirty thousand Palestinians in the last six months.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
\n Surveillance Diplomacy<\/h1>\n
Despite facing losses due to mounting lawsuits and state action, the NSO Group continues to survive and export its authoritarian tech. It is now impossible for the Israeli firm to gain government clients in America. At the same time, the EU\u2019s strict surveillance laws and robust civil society present additional challenges to its growth in the region.<\/p>\n
Despite facing losses due to mounting lawsuits and state action, the NSO Group continues to survive and export its authoritarian tech.<\/q><\/h3>\n
However, the company\u2019s flagship product makes it too important to fail. The software\u2019s use in diplomacy follows the decades-old trend of using weapons sales to gain favor with foreign governments. Israel\u2019s push for diplomatic normalization with Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia has been accompanied by secretive weapons sales.<\/p>\n
As the backchannel relations have grown, groups such as Amnesty International and the University of Toronto\u2019s Citizen Lab have traced the use of Pegasus in the phones of Arab journalists and dissidents. The spyware was also deployed against political opponents, journalists, and activists in India, Hungary, and Rwanda.<\/p>\n
Israel has found fertile ground in the decline of democratic values in countries like India and the growing appetite for surveillance tech in the Middle East. In 2017, Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit the country. The\u00a0New York Times<\/i>\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that a $2 billion deal for sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear was signed during this visit. Pegasus and a missile system were the highlights of this sale.<\/p>\n