Israel appoints task force to assess Pegasus spyware allegations: Sources

Pegasus has been accused of snooping on political leaders, public figures and journalists across the world.

Israel has set up a senior inter-ministerial team to assess growing allegations that spyware sold by an Israeli cyber firm has been abused on a global scale, Israeli sources said on Wednesday. One source said the team is headed by Israel's National Security Council, which answers to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and has broader areas of expertise than the Defence Ministry, which oversees exports of NSO Group's Pegasus software. Another source said the National Security Council is not involved and that the assessment is being carried out by senior defence, intelligence and diplomatic officials. Both sources requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "This event is beyond the Defence Ministry purview," the first source said, referring to potential diplomatic blowback after prominent media reports this week of suspected abuses of Pegasus in France, Mexico, India, Morocco and Iraq.