Is Israel’s silence in the Khashoggi case due to its involvement?
Le Figaro’s correspondent in Israel analyses Tel Aviv’s “late reaction” to Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. The newspaper supports Edward Snowden’s thesis. The latter accused Israel of being indirectly involved in the assassination by providing spyware to Riyadh to help trace this “dissident”.
Between Israel and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, what is the connection? Le Figaro is studying in detail Tel Aviv’s sales of espionage and surveillance equipment to Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, to track down their dissidents. And it would seem that these sales are not unrelated to the long reaction time and the extremely brief statement of Mr. Netanyahu on this assassination.
Indeed, the correspondent of Le Figaro in Israel recalls that for a month Benjamin Netanyahu did not make a single public comment on the murder of the Saudi journalist. On 2 November, he described the murder as “horrible”, but added that “it is very important that Saudi Arabia remains stable, because Iran is a bigger problem”.
The author also recalls the revelations of the whistleblower and former NSA employee on the run, Edward Snowden, about the involvement, albeit indirect, of an Israeli company in the murder of the Saudi journalist.
According to the American, the Israeli-based cyber-surveillance company NSO Group sold spyware to Saudi leaders that allowed them to find Jamal Khashoggi and kill him.
“He[the software, editor’s note] was reportedly installed on the phone of Omar Abdulaziz, another exiled Saudi dissident who was in close contact with the journalist. This absolutely effective virus called Pegasus can unlock any mobile phone via phishing. After a link is opened, it silently sets up and records all communications, interactions and locations of a smartphone,” we can hear it say in the video above.
According to Snowden, the Saudis found Khashoggi’s trail in this way, which allowed them to lure him to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul without leaving a trace.
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The article adds that “the Israeli government’s position is all the more difficult because the contacts established since 2014 between the Hebrew State and Riyadh are not official and remain fragile despite common strategic interests”, writes the author of the article, stressing that the Kingdom does not publicly acknowledge the establishment of a dialogue with its new partner and “sometimes even denies it”.
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