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Technology

Israel Blocked Ukraine From Buying Pegasus Spyware, Fearing Russia's Anger (theguardian.com) 156

Israel blocked Ukraine from buying NSO Group's Pegasus spyware for fear that Russian officials would be angered by the sale of the sophisticated hacking tool to a regional foe, The Guardian reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: The revelation, following a joint investigation by the Guardian and Washington Post, offers new insight into the way Israel's relationship with Russia has at times undermined Ukraine's offensive capabilities -- and contradicted US priorities. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been critical of Israel's stance since Russia launched its full and bloody invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, saying in a recent address before members of Israel's Knesset that Israel would have to "give answers" on why it had not given weapons to Ukraine or applied sanctions on Russians.

People with direct knowledge of the matter say that, dating back to at least 2019, Ukrainian officials lobbied Israel to try to convince it to license the spyware tool for use by Ukraine. But those efforts were rebuffed and NSO Group, which is regulated by the Israeli ministry of defense, was never permitted to market or sell the company's spyware to Ukraine.

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Israel Blocked Ukraine From Buying Pegasus Spyware, Fearing Russia's Anger

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  • by mspohr ( 589790 ) on Thursday March 24, 2022 @03:53PM (#62387225)

    Israel also refused to sell Ukraine their Iron Dome missile defense system and blocked the US from sending it to Ukraine.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news... [msn.com]

    Also, Israel doesn't support the sanctions against Russia.

    • Maybe it's time the US stop letting the tail wag the dog.

      • But what about when Jeebus comes back? The vast majority of the batshit insane Xtians from this country believe that anybody that isn't friends with Israel will be ground to dust when their all-loving Gawd comes back to murder everyone who doesn't like him! We can't have that happen can we?!

      • by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Thursday March 24, 2022 @05:50PM (#62387539)

        Maybe it's time the US stop letting the tail wag the dog.

        I always though it was strange that the US goes without public healthcare, yet gives Israel enough money to fund their public healthcare.

      • About the extremist evangelicals. They are literally convinced that Israel has to exist so that Armageddon can happen. They're not a huge voting block but they vote 100% reliably and they will throw out pretty much every economic issue there is so long as the social and religious issues they care about are addressed. There are popular voting block with a certain kind of politician who wants to sell out economically but still get elected.
    • Israel is not your friend. Never has been, never will. When they deliberately attack [ussliberty.org] their closest ally, when they lie to their closest ally [politico.com], what hope does a fledgling democratic country have to ask for help when it's under unprecedented attack from its neighbor?

      Stereotypes exist for a reason. All Israel is interested in is making money from Russia which is why it pleaded with the U.S. and European countries not to sanction Abramovich because he was the largest contributor [businessinsider.com] to the Holocaust Museum. After

  • Given the level of corruption in Ukraine, this technology may end up in the hands of Iran or worse. That's why Ukraine is only getting older weapons that are readily available on secondary markets.
    • Aren't they getting starstreak MANPADs now? Those are pretty up to date and not readily available.

    • And when Ukraine start's having fair elections and removing corruption they get invaded by Russia, more of a catch-22 than schroedinger's situation here. Although you could argue that until the technology is provided it Ukraine's level of corruption is in some kind of superposition although that would be stretching the point.
    • The level of corruption is vastly less than in Russia. Ukraine did have a corruption problem, which they started fixing with the ouster of Putin's lapdog. One of the reasons Putin is invading Ukraine is because he wants to re-instate the corruption by putting his own people in charge.

    • I don't know of or see any more corruption in Ukraine than anywhere else in the world. Significantly less then countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel that we send way more weapons too. That's before we talk about the weapons we sell India. And if you want to corrupt government India has you covered. I think you'd have to go to North Korea to find a more corrupt government. At least on the national level.
    • It ended up in the hands of the United Arab Emirates and probably Saudi Arabia as well not to mention all the other countries we don't know about some of which were spying on our NATO allies and no doubt Americans as well.

    • by nagora ( 177841 )

      Given the level of corruption in Ukraine, this technology may end up in the hands of Iran or worse.

      Well, go ask Syria how well things are getting on and how lucky they are that Iran can't hack them. The craters where their homes used to be will light up with happy faces.

      Fuck's sake.

    • Given the level of corruption in Ukraine, this technology may end up in the hands of Iran or worse. That's why Ukraine is only getting older weapons that are readily available on secondary markets.

      Didn't the US just send them a bunch of switchblade drone/missile units that are fairly cutting edge? Also my impression is because the entire Ukrainian military was trained largely on russian/soviet hardware, and this isn't exactly the environment you want to train and do integration tests in, it's better to provide older hardware to them that they know how to use versus whole new weapons systems. Things like javelin missiles and other point and click weapons being a bit of an exception.

  • Israel is as evil as Russia when it comes to using warfare as a means to intentionally harm civilians. They are alike when it comes to cruel and unnecessary assassinations too. One day the western world will wise up and free the Palestinians from Israel the same way it is trying to help free Ukrainians today.
    • I stick to the libertarian view I've always held. It's best for nations not to get involved in wars that aren't being waged directly against them. The people who wish to fight for their freedom should do so, and others can come to their aid indirectly if they wish. But that's really the extent of it. America always tries to play the role of world policeman and we're not very good at it. Lots of attempts to let one ruler rise to power in place of another in a gamble it will make things better, and it tends

      • I stick to the libertarian view I've always held. It's best for nations not to get involved in wars that aren't being waged directly against them.

        That's not how it works at all. Sometimes you have to get involved, sometimes you don't, it depends on who's winning and what their next move is likely to be.

        Also, whether you have to get involved or not, sometimes it's the right thing to do, like to prevent a genocide.

        I grow tired of the accusations that Israel is intentionally harming civilians with its warfare, etc.

        That's stupid, because Israel is intentionally harming civilians [vox.com]. You can say they've been provoked, and there is some truth to that, but that doesn't change the fact. (And that argument is discussed in the article I linked.)

        Every time I ever read an accurate story of what's happening over there, it amounts to the Arabs happily shelling Israel's schools, churches, and pretty much anything else they happen to hit. Israel's retaliation is much more calculated.

        Most attacks do

        • I disagree.... It absolutely CAN work the way I'm suggesting! The only reason you say it doesn't is because you're assuming past history of nations getting involved because "We're allies!" is some sort of requirement.

          I can't morally justify a government sending its own citizens off to their own possible/likely death because it wants to involve itself in a war between other nations.

          If you likened it to a comparable scenario at the local level? It would be like the local TV news station finding out a drunk

          • Once international trade is involved, he who treats his peasantry the worst can sell "good enough" resources at the cheapest price, which almost always wins out in a free market economy. This means foreign states now have an incentive to use force to boost their GDP output per capita and sell to (libertarian) businesspeople who are naturally indifferent about what is happening. So now as a leader you either have to apply force (in the libertarian sense) to your own domestic businesses, apply trade protectio
            • by King_TJ ( 85913 )

              With International trade though, you always have the situation where SOME nations are concerned about the concept of a "level playing field" while others don't care as long as they can maximize their export sales.

              This doesn't negate libertarian concepts as "incorrect" or "invalid" at all. It just shows the problems you're bound to have if you try to embrace a global economy while not all of the participants have the same set of values.

              I'd argue that in the Ukraine situation, you're only seeing so many big

  • In all previous mentions of this software, Slashdot has expressed the view that no one should have access to such software. So everyone should be happy with this move.
    • by jbengt ( 874751 )
      No one is going to be made happy by Israel refusing to give their spyware to Ukraine when they are still selling it to other countries,including some repressive, anti-undemocratic type governments.
    • Everyone or no should should have it. In a world where Russia has it, Ukraine should definitely have it. I would rejoice if NSO group said they were no longer going to provide it to anyone, and were planning to vanish up their own arseholes. Their heads are already in there, so all they have to do is keep going.

  • by Miles_O'Toole ( 5152533 ) on Thursday March 24, 2022 @04:30PM (#62387331)

    Israel's far right government has proved over and over again it is no friend to the United States. As a partner on the world stage, it is almost as poisonous, murderous and evil as America's other Middle East ally, Saudi Arabia. The main difference between the two is that Israel is a huge financial drain on the American taxpayer; Saudi Arabia, not so much.

    If America's bought-and-paid-for politicians (in BOTH parties) could just once find the courage and decency to do what's best for the country instead of themselves, they'd wean the US off fossil fuels, pull out of the Middle East, and let the hatemongers there have the war they've always wanted...for once without using America's blood and treasure to pay the butcher's bill.

    • The main difference between the two is that Israel is a huge financial drain on the American taxpayer; Saudi Arabia, not so much.

      The Saudis lobby to keep us on oil. That's not only a huge financial drain, it's an unsustainable activity that will turn the whole world into a desert. There are no heroes in this story.

      The US was the muscle behind the decision to install Israel. The brains were originally British, but they backed off from the plan and we picked it up and ran with it instead. The plan was obviously to use Israel to suppress Islamic interests. If we left it now and let the situation resolve itself, it would probably so do in nuclear fire.

      • No argument from me about Saudi lobbying, my friend. I wouldn't put them in first place, though, as far as fossil fuel interests that control the US government. Right now, I'd give that honour to the surviving Koch brother, closely followed by every other international fossil fuel corporation. I realize this involves some overlap with the Saudi government, but the whole sector's control of US politicians is far greater, and goes back much further than Saudi Arabia's early 1930s "birth".

        By the way, I'm al

  • Israel is what happens when you let religion dominate your thinking to the exclusion of all logic. They're racist assholes who are just as bad as anyone the U.S. has had issue with in the past....we just let them do whatever they want because otherwise Gawd will hate us. (Look it up before you flame me, k? There are a TON of 'end times' Xtians in the Government, they would deep throat Israel until the end of the world just because of that.)
    Personally I think it's spot on that we condemn one 'bad actor' whil

    • They're racist assholes

      Maybe, but much less so than their neighbors. Israel actually has 1.6 million Muslims living in the country, and a minority but active Muslim political party.

      Number of Jews living in Jordan? 0.
      Number of Jews living in Egypt? 0.
      Number Jews living in Iran? 0. ...

      Hating a group of people that have consistently tried to wipe you off the face of the earth isn't racism.

  • Interestingly Israel is evil when it sells Pegasus spyware, and now it's evil for not selling it. And who is Israel supposed to sell it to? Ukraine, a country that has voted against Israel in every UN resolution in recent history? Not exactly allies. Israel has a lot to lose getting involved in a war against Russia, especially considering the fact that Russia literally has a military presence bordering Israel (in Syria).
    Of course while Israel does send humanitarian aid to Ukraine and even accepts refugees,

    • Wow. I had to read to the second to the last comment here to find somebody with a fucking clue. Congrats You're better than the /.tards.
      The Israeli people buy and large think Putin is a piece of shit and would love to see Russia scampering off with its tail between it's legs.
      However, Lebanon and Syria are packed with Hezbollah rockets aimed at Israel. Russia is the trailer park trash meth head holding the leash on those mongrels. Russia has allowed Israel to attack within Syria. Israel doesn't want to

  • I guess Israel does not care about what is right, only who is better Allie.
    • Or maybe you're ignorant, should stop guessing, and should go learn a thing or two about history and politics before spouting off?

  • Is Ukraine actually God now?

    Are any and all geopolitical decisions that were ever made, that didn't put Ukraine first in all things, now heresy?

    • Are any and all geopolitical decisions that were ever made, that didn't put Ukraine first in all things, now heresy?

      Not necessarily, but the cold war is definitely back on. With Russia and very possibly China. Nations that have tried to remain "neutral" for various reasons are about to have to make a pretty painful choice: East or West. Israel and India are probably the two that will gnash their teeth the most at the prospect.

      Relations with Russia have been souring for years, with real cracks forming when they decided to basically fight a proxy war against the US coalition in Syria. It got papered over a bit when Tru

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