Paris (AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz assured his French counterpart Florence Parly on Wednesday that his country was taking allegations of espionage concerning Israeli software Pegasus "seriously", suspected of having also been used against President Emmanuel Macron.

Benny Gantz "brought up the subject NSO (Israeli cybersecurity company that designed Pegasus) and said Israel was taking the allegations seriously," the Israeli defense ministry said in a statement.

"He stressed that the State of Israel only grants export authorizations for cyber products to states and only to fight terrorism and crime," the ministry added.

Florence Parly "told him about the clarifications which are now awaited by France, and on which the trust and mutual respect between our two countries depend," said the French Ministry of the Armed Forces.

The minister had already indicated on Tuesday that she wanted to take the opportunity of this long-planned bilateral meeting to find out "what knowledge the Israeli government had of the activities of NSO's clients" and how it intended "to prevent a diversion of these highly intrusive tools. ".

It was the first meeting between the Israeli Minister of Defense and his French counterpart since 2013, said the Ministry of the Armed Forces.

Pegasus, which allows to infiltrate computer systems, is at the heart of a global spy scandal revealed in mid-July by 17 media.

It would have made it possible to spy on the numbers of at least 180 journalists, 85 human rights activists or even 14 heads of state including French President Emmanuel Macron - which NSO denies.

- "Checks" -

According to the French media Le Monde and Radio France, numbers of Emmanuel Macron as well as those of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and 14 members of the government, including the head of diplomacy Jean-Yves Le Drian, appeared "in the list of numbers selected by a security service of the Moroccan State, user of Pegasus, for a potential piracy ".

"If these facts are proven (...) we will draw all the consequences, but first it must be proven that they are true", advanced the spokesman of the French government, Gabriel Attal, to the outcome of the Council of Ministers, stressing that "verifications" were underway.

Regularly accused of playing into the game of authoritarian regimes, NSO assures that its Pegasus software is only used to obtain information on criminal or terrorist networks.

The Israeli Parliament has set up a commission to investigate allegations of "misuse" of Pegasus by some states to spy on public figures.

Benny Gantz informed Ms. Parly that "officials visited the NSO offices on Wednesday," Israel's defense ministry said, without giving further details.

The Israeli minister also took stock with his counterpart on Iranian nuclear power and on the regional "threat" that Iran represents in Israel's eyes.

He also spoke with the head of French foreign intelligence (DGSE), Bernard Emié.

© 2021 AFP