Israel Denies Macron Spying Claims in Pegasus Software Controversy

"No one has listened to President Macron’s phone," said the head of Israeli diplomacy in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde, one of the 17 newspapers at the origin of the Pegasus affair revelations. Forbidden Stories and its partners accused the Moroccan intelligence service of having used the Israeli Pegasus software to spy on, in particular, the French head of state. "President Macron is an inspiring leader, a true friend of Israel, but also one of my personal friends. He is one of the most committed and firm European leaders in the face of anti-Semitism. We would never have done anything that could harm him," said Yaïr Lapid.

He clarified that the NSO group is a private company. "But we have done our best to find out what happened, and as far as we can say, no one has listened to the president’s (French) phone. This is in line with the [export license issued by the Israeli state to NSO]: the program can only be used to fight terrorist organizations and serious crimes, and we hope that these terms have been respected," he stressed.

When asked about a possible withdrawal of the license from the Moroccan authorities - Morocco has always denied using the Pegasus software -, the head of Israeli diplomacy explains: "This license is very strict. We have exposed all the material we had to the French authorities. And we made sure that everyone understands the difference between a private company and a government company."

Since the Pegasus spying scandal broke out, Morocco has asked Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories to provide proof of the espionage accusations against it. To date, the Moroccan authorities claim they have not obtained any evidence.