November 7, 2018 at 12:11 pm |
Published in: Israel, Middle East, News, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, US
Edward Snowden speaks via video link
to participants of the 'MCI alumni and friends' conference at the Congress
Innsbruck on October 18, 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria. (Photo
by Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images)
November
7, 2018 at 12:11 pm
US whistle-blower Edward Snowden
yesterday claimed that Saudi Arabia used Israeli spyware to target murdered
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Addressing a conference in Tel Aviv
via a video link, Snowden claimed that software made by an Israeli cyber
intelligence firm was used by Saudi Arabia to track and target Khashoggi in the
lead up to his murder on 2 October inside the Saudi Consulate in
Istanbul.
Snowden told his audience: “How do
they [Saudi Arabia] know what his [Khashoggi’s] plans were and that they needed
to act against him? That knowledge came from the technology developed by NSO,”
Israeli business daily Globes reported. Snowden accused NSO of “selling a
digital burglary tool,” adding it “is not just being used for catching
criminals and stopping terrorist attacks, not just for saving lives, but for
making money […] such a level of recklessness […] actually starts costing
lives,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
Snowden – made famous in 2013 for
leaking classified National Security Agency (NSA) files and exposing the extent
of US surveillance – added that “Israel is routinely at the top of the US’
classified threat list of hackers along with Russia and China […] even though
it is an ally”. Snowden is wanted in the US for espionage, so could not travel
to Tel Aviv to address the conference in person for fear of being handed over
to the authorities.
The Israeli firm to which Snowden
referred – NSO Group Technologies – is known for developing the “Pegasus”
software which can be used to remotely infect a target’s mobile phone and then
relay back data accessed by the device. Although NSO claims that its products “are licensed only to
legitimate government agencies for the sole purpose of investigating and
preventing crime and terror,” this is not the first time its Pegasus software
has been used by Saudi Arabia to track critics.
In October it was revealed that Saudi Arabia used Pegasus software to
eavesdrop on 27-year-old Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, a prominent critic of
the Saudi government on social media. The revelation was made by Canadian
research group Citizen Lab, which found that the software had been used to hack
Abdulaziz’ iPhone between June and August of this year. Citizen Lab’s
Director Ron Deibert explained that such actions by Saudi Arabia “would
constitute illegal wiretapping”.
A separate report by Citizen Lab in September found a “significant
expansion of Pegasus usage in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in
the Middle East,” in particular the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and
Saudi Arabia. Citizen Lab added that in August 2016, Emirati human rights
activist Ahmed Mansoor was targeted with the Pegasus spyware.
Snowden’s comments come less than a
week after it emerged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
asked the United States to stand by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman (MBS)
in the wake of the Khashoggi case. The revelation was made by the Washington
Post , which cited
information from US officials familiar with a series of telephone conversations
made to Jared Kushner – senior advisor to President Donald Trump and Trump’s
son-in-law – and National Security Adviser John Bolton regarding the Khashoggi
case. The officials told the Post that:
In recent days, Egyptian President
Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reached
out to the Trump administration to express support for the crown prince,
arguing that he is an important strategic partner in the region, said people
familiar with the calls.
Bin Salman has come under intense
scrutiny in the month since Khashoggi first disappeared, with many suspecting his involvement in ordering
the brutal murder. Yet while several world leaders have shunned the crown prince, it is thought that Israel would suffer from any decline in
Saudi influence in the region in light of its purportedly central role in the
upcoming “Deal of the Century”.
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