Israel blocks sale of NSO Group's Pegasus spyware over fear officials in Russia will be angered by the sale of an advanced hacking tool to their enemy in the region. The Guardian writes about this, citing its own sources informed about the situation.. The publication notes that the new revelation sheds light on how Israeli relations with Moscow undermine the offensive capabilities of Ukraine, which is contrary to US priorities..

President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Israel's stance on Russia's bloody invasion of Ukrainian territory. In a recent address to the Knesset, he said that the country would have to "

It has now become known that in 2019 Ukrainian officials tried to convince Israel to license the Pegasus spyware.. But these efforts failed.. The NSO Group, which is regulated by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, has not received permission to sell its software to Kiev.

The Pegasus program, if used successfully, allows you to hack into any mobile phone and intercept telephone conversations, read text messages or access user photos. The phone also becomes a tool for listening to non-telephone conversations.. Because the government user can remotely turn on and off the recording on it.

Journalists from The Guardian and Washington Post tried to find out how government clients of the NSO company use its products against human rights activists and media workers around the world.. The investigation also revealed that agreements to sell Pegasus to countries ranging from Hungary to Saudi Arabia are often linked to Israeli foreign policy.. Spyware has also been used against high-ranking officials and diplomats in Spain, France, Uganda and other countries.. She was used in internal and external espionage.

The NSO says its design was intended to be used by governments to prosecute criminals and terrorists.. The company is also conducting its own investigation into allegations of abuse.. Sources said that the Israeli MoD often first allowed the NSO to sell the Pegasus to another government client, and then, after a second review, either approved the sale or canceled it.. One senior Ukrainian intelligence official said Israel's decision " The interlocutor of the publication added that he did not understand why Ukraine was denied access to technology, because the US government supported these Ukrainian efforts..

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Another source told The Guardian that in the case of Ukraine, the Israeli decision was motivated by an unwillingness to irritate Russia, with which it has a close intelligence relationship.. Israel feared that the ability of the Ukrainian special services to attack mobile phones in the Russian Federation with the help of Pegasus would be regarded as an act of aggression against Russian intelligence.

But not only Ukraine was denied a license for spyware. NATO member Estonia also bought Pegasus in 2019. However, in August of the same year, the NSO informed Tallinn that it was not allowing it to use the technology against Russian targets..

Experts say Israel has political motives for maintaining close relations with Russia. He hopes that Moscow will not allow a revival of the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, the negotiations on which were almost completed in Vienna.. Israel also blames Moscow when it attacks Iranian positions in Syria.