Axios has reported, citing sources, that the Israeli electronic intelligence company NSO has negotiated with the Jordanian government over the past months a deal to sell new spy technology.
The sources say that negotiations between the Israeli company and the Jordanian government began late last year, and a delegation of senior executives and technology experts in the company traveled to Amman and made a presentation to Jordanian officials, including the General Intelligence Directorate, and demonstrated the capabilities of the new technology.
The negotiations took place in the months leading up to the kingdom's latest internal crisis, during which former Crown Prince Hamzah bin Hussein was placed under house arrest.
According to the website, Jordanian security services monitored his communications for months, and allegedly spied on his meetings with tribal leaders.
According to press reports, the Israeli company had previously done business with the Jordanian government, and according to Haaretz newspaper, the company used the code name “Jaguar” in internal documents instead of the company name.
NSO has come under fire in recent years for using its Pegasus spyware to monitor human rights activists, opposition figures, journalists and political rivals.
In October 2019, Facebook filed a lawsuit against the company over its use of Pegasus software and hacking of 1,400 WhatsApp accounts, including those of 100 human rights activists and journalists, which the company rejected.