Israel: Pegasus found on phones of US diplomats in Africa

A mobile phone connected to the website of the Israeli company NSO, which markets the Pegasus spy program, photographed in Paris on July 21, 2021. Joel Saget AFP / Archivos

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

New twist in the case of the pirating of phones by software developed by the Israeli company.

For the first time, phones belonging to American officials were targeted.

A new episode in this saga which risks further undermining relations between Israel and the Biden administration.

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With our correspondent in Jerusalem,

Michel Paul 

This time the Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli group NSO, was found on at least 9 phones belonging to employees of the US State Department.

It is, according to the Reuters agency which revealed this information of American officials based in Uganda.

The Israeli company was blacklisted last month by the US Department of Commerce after being indicted for hacking the phones of hundreds of government officials around the world, including several heads of state.

And in particular the phone of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Asked a spokesperson for the NSO group said he had no indication of the use of software on these phones.

The accounts concerned, he added, have been suspended and an investigation is said to be ongoing.

Next week the Israeli Defense Minister is due to visit Washington to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue.

But the Pegasus affair will also be at the center of the debate.

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  • Israel

  • United States

  • Pegasus

  • Diplomacy

  • Africa