This week, a UK family court made public a hitherto secret decision in a custody battle between a member of the Jordanian royal family and her ex-husband, the prime minister of UAE. She is Princess Haya, the half-sister of King Abdullah II formerly married to Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum. They were engaged in years-long battle for custody of their two children. Though final custody arrangements were not determined, the judge excoriated the Arab leader, finding that he hacked the phones of his ex-wife, her lawyers, and her security detail. His UAE government is a known customer of Israeli spyware maker, NSO Group, whose Pegasus product was used.
The reporting neglected a critical detail: not only did the UAE official spy on these individuals, but NSO itself did as well. When Citizen Lab cyber-security researcher, Bill Marczak told the Princess’s solicitor, Baroness Shackleton, that her cell phone had been compromised, only hours later a senior NSO executive called the company’s UK attorney, Cherie Blair. He told her that Princess Haya now knew she and Shackleton’s phones had been compromised. The NSO official directed Blair to warn Shackleton of the intrusion. Though, of course, she already knew since Marczak had informed her. The only way NSO could have known this, is if it was monitoring the use of its spyware by its UAE customer, the PM.
There are several serious implications: first, NSO has always claimed it cannot “look over the shoulder” of clients to ensure they are using Pegasus in ways that comply with NSO’s terms of use. This has shielded the company from demands that it prevent its clients from violating the privacy of human rights of citizens, journalists and lawyers engaged in legitimate civic activism. There are numerous cases in which such victims were arrested, imprisoned, and even murdered. In each of them, Pegasus was a key element enabling police and intelligence agents to track their quarry. This incident proves that the company’s claim is a lie. It can and does monitor how its customers use its spyware.
Second, the hack of Baroness Shackleton who, as an officer of the court, is a official representative of the British state, sabotages the UK justice system. It also permits not one, but two foreign governments (NSO is closely tied to the Israeli defense ministry and many of its employees are veterans of the IDF’s Unit 8200) to access confidential UK judicial matters.
The role Blair played is also troubling as she exploits her celebrity reputation to serve as a legal-ethical fig leaf for NSO. Hiring her protects it from charges that its spyware endangers the lives of victims in the UK and around the world. The Israeli company has hired numerous lawyers and politicians with reputations for ethical probity to burnish its reputation. They include former Obama officials, Julie Kayyem and Jeh Johnson, and former Homeland Security secretary, Tom Ridge. All of them including Blair provide legal and ethical cover for NSO’s worst offenses. Blair’s case is even more egregious, because she served as a conduit between her client and the victim, Princes Haya, in which the company’s lawyer revealed that it had engaged in an egregious violation of Haya’s rights. At the very least she is morally compromised. She may even be an accessory to a criminal act if betraying attorney-client privilege is a legal offense in the UK.
Third, the entire sordid affair threatens to poison relations between the UK and UAE, which have been close allies and trading partners. This is turn could damage relations between Israel and the UK. Note that NSO only exposed the hack when it became aware that it’s role had been exposed by Citizen Lab. The call to Blair was meant to engage in damage control, the equivalent of locking the barn door after the horse has bolted.
Israel Refuses to Permit New NSO Owner to Inspect Company Books
The UK investment firm, Novalpina, lost its role as primary investor in NSO Group after a legal falling-out among the partners. I profiled one of them, Stephen Peel here after he bought a controlling interest in it. Private investors then took control from Novalpina and assigned their management of NSO to a US company tasked with selling their share of NSO to new owners. However, that US company, Berkeley Research Group, has been denied access to NSO and its financial records by the Israeli defense ministry. That means that the US investors, which include the Oregon State Treasury (which invested $200-million) cannot unload their investment and sell it to anyone. This is a material interference in international commerce by Israel authorities, which should concern not only the US investors, but US regulators.
In a separate development, NSO is reported to have facilitated the escape of former Mexican attorney general, Tomas Zeron, to Israel, after he was accused of corruption and sabotaging the investigation into the murders of 43 students. Mexico’s president recently appealed directly to Israeli PM Naftali Bennett to return Zervos to Mexico to face justice. Zerons’s agency was the first Mexican government unit to purchase NSO malware, paying $55-million over the years. Another colorful and notorious figure from the Trump era, Elliot Broidy, sought to muscle in on the deal, but was eventually frozen out of it by a few Israeli dealmakers. The entire purchasing process is now under investigation under suspicion of corruption. Bennett has not responded to the Mexican request. Nor is he likely to unless forced to do so either by Mexico or by further embarrassing revelations about NSO.
All of these revelations are so ugly. What’s really awful about them is we expect Israel to be the blackmailing pit bull of the world, butting in on conversations, not for its security but for its ability to compromise. The FBI under Herbert Hoover did the same thing and probably still is. So your excellent article clearly tells us what the problem is. How the hell do governments, individuals, and other entities even begin to fix it?
@ Greta:
J. Edgar Hoover. But not much difference in their politics.
NSO and companies alike are a necessary evil, unfortunately.
In our crazy world, “woke” people and all sorts of terrorists spread anarchy MUST be curbed, IMHO.
Regardless of their citizenship, social status, religion or sex.
Yes – even journalists. There, I said it.
Journalists were never elected by no one – and yet their publications have a tremendous influence on us people. No one controls whether they do it out of pure journalism – or they have some hidden agenda (in far too many cases).
I don’t see journalists (or “human rights” activists as sacred – they are as sacred as the rest of us.
They don’t deserve special treatment or any privileges – until proven beyond any doubt they are not being a tool of some master…
@Alex: Thank you for exposing full-throated Judeo-fascism. Normally, I would delete such a comment since it violates a Cardinal comment rule: do not advocate violence against individuals, classes or states. But I wanted readers to see how ugly your views are. Also, they represent not just you, but an entire movement that informs much of the Israeli state.
NSO is not a “necessary evil.” It is pure evil.
Your attack on journalism is a characteristic of fascism. On the contrary, journalists and the press are a protected class in democracies. That’s why we have a concept of freedom of the press. It’s why in most democracies journalism is guaranteed special status. It is recognized as performing a critical function in such societies, and worthy of such protections.
Journalists don’t have to be “elected” to merit such rights. They are guaranteed and fundamental to democracy.
Human rights activists too deserve the same protections, though their status is not as guaranteed under law as journalism is. But they should be.
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@Richard – who told you I am Jewish? It is just your hateful assumption – which exposes your true nature.
I have no issues with journalists. Journalists are, as you said, an important part of every democratic society.
My issue is with pseudo-journalists, or if you will, mouthpieces of interested parties (oligarchs, rogue regimes, wealthy businessmen, and others).
Unfortunately, the vast majority of those who claim to be journalists are just useful idiots on the payroll of those interested parties.
Those mouthpieces are NOT to be granted any privileges whatsoever.
@ Alex:
It is immaterial whether you are Jewish or a Zoroastrian. You are a devout fascist.
You don’t get to make the determination who is a legitimate journalist and who is a “pseudo-journalist.” The journalism profession makes that judgement. THugs like you don’t, thank God. And a true democracy respects such status whether it likes the journalist or his/her reporting or not. And as for a “hateful nature,” you’ve described yourself perfectly.
“.. the entire sordid affair threatens to poison relations between the UK and UAE …”
You are kidding of course! 😂
UK’s close allies according to Liz Truss | Tory Conference in Manchester |
Joe Biden saved her brother King Abdullah II from a complot for his removal in April: Israel, UAE and KSA got the warning!
It is naive (or fool) to state that the fact that “many of its (NSO) employees are veterans of the IDF’s Unit 8200” – proves its ties to the Israeli government.
Those employees joined the 8200 at the age of 18 and left it at the age of 20-21. They were no high-ranked soldiers and for the most part not even low-rank officers at the unit.
It would be as stupid as to claim that all Google employees were at school at some point – so they are tied to the Ministry of Education..
@ Alex: I only offered a single example of NSO serving the interests of the Israeli state. There are scores more: NSO has had client states for which trade is prohibited under Israeli law. UAE is but one example. Media reports have noted that the Israeli state offers NSO an exception because the company is viewed as advancing state interests. Human rights lawyers have demanded that the Supreme Court end NSO exports to states which are serial violators of human rights. The Court has repeatedly refused to do so, thus protecting NSO’s trade with such dysfunctional, genocidal, rogue regimes. These are only a few examples among many.
It would actually be totally reasonable to say that Google was an extension of US state power and interests if 90%+ of its employees were veterans of the NSA (the Israeli equivalent of the IDF Unit 8200). If the US state in effect trained most of its computer engineers as Israel does on behalf of its worst cyber-predator companies, then yes, Google would be an agent of the state.
@Richard,
“NSO has had client states for which trade is prohibited under Israeli law. UAE is but one example.”
Israeli law never prohibited having clients of particular countries – you are confusing it with the Israeli laws forbidding INDIVIDUALS from having ANY relations with enemy states.
With regards to export – Israeli law ALWAYS requires authorization when exporting any tangible goods or services deemed as related to anything military/defense. Be it NSO, Mobileye or any other tech company (in addition to the obvious group of companies such as Elbit, Rafael and others).
@ Alex:
In the case of Iran, your claim is false. Israeli companies are forbidden by law from trade with it:
They do so anyway with the government offering a wink and a nod in certain cases.
What does “authorization” even mean? It is meaningless in the case of Israel. Defense ministry export licenses are routinely given for weapons exports. There is no meaningful oversight of such matters.
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