Israeli authorities have banned Ukraine from buying the Pegasus spy program, fearing Russia's wrath

Israeli authorities have blocked Ukraine from buying NSO Group's Pegasus spyware, fearing that Russian officials will be angered by selling a sophisticated hacking tool to a regional enemy. This is stated in a joint investigation by the Guardian and The Washington Post.

Thus, this information shows how Israel's relations with Russia sometimes undermine Ukraine's offensive capabilities and contradict US priorities.

According to the publication, when Pegasus is successfully deployed against a target, it can be used to hack into any mobile phone and intercept phone conversations, read text messages, or view user photos. The app can also be used as a remote listening device, as a government spyware user can use it to remotely turn on and off the mobile phone recorder.

Recently, the media investigated how spyware was used by NSO government clients to target journalists and human rights defenders around the world. The consortium's reports also showed how sales of Pegasus from Hungary to Saudi Arabia often coincided with Israel's foreign policy.

Spyware has also been used against high-ranking government and diplomatic officials, from Spain to France and Uganda, in cases that some countries saw as attempts to use the tool to carry out domestic or international espionage.

The NSO said its spyware is intended to be used by government clients to target serious criminals and terrorists. They also added that they are investigating serious allegations of abuse.

Interlocutors of the publications, who are directly aware of this issue, claim that Ukrainian officials have been lobbying Israel since at least 2019 to try to convince it to license spyware for use in Ukraine.

But these efforts were rejected, and the NSO Group, which is regulated by the Israeli Ministry of defense, was never granted permission to transfer or sell the company's spyware in Ukraine.

Sources said that in most common cases, the Israeli Defense Ministry first grants NSO permission to sell Pegasus to a government customer, and then, after verification, allows or blocks the sale of the technology.

One senior Ukrainian intelligence official admitted that Israel's decision caused Ukrainian officials to feel "confused." The official said he did not fully understand why Ukraine was denied access to the powerful spy tool, but added that he believed the U.S. government supported Ukraine's efforts.

Sources close to the issue said Israel's decision reflected a reluctance to merge Russia, which has close intelligence relations with Israel. The interlocutors also stressed that Israel fears that providing Ukraine with the opportunity to target Russian mobile phone numbers through Pegasus will be regarded as an act of aggression against the Russian special services," the article says.

This was not the only case when one of the key regional enemies of the Russian Federation was denied access to Pegasus. According to journalists, Estonia, which is a member of NATO, gained access to Pegasus in 2019, but in August of the same year, the NSO reported that the company would not allow Estonian officials to use spyware against Russian targets.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly criticized Israel's position after Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, saying in a recent speech to members of the Israeli Knesset that Israel must "give answers" to why it decided not to hand over weapons to Ukraine and not to impose sanctions against Russians.

Earlier, Apple fixed a vulnerability discovered in CoreGraphics and WebKit by specialists from Citizen Lab. In particular, a bug in the Apple operating system allowed you to install the Pegasus spy program, which is able to steal data, passwords and activate the phone's microphone or camera.