28 dec 2018
The file photo shows outgoing US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis attending a ceremony in the White House in Washington, DC. on July 30, 2018
Outgoing United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis has rejected an appeal made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve an Israeli sale of US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets, a report says.
Washington criticized the sale as a move to weaken and compete with the American arms market, according to an unnamed Israeli official speaking to Israel’s Channel 10 television network on Thursday.
The $500-million sale of 12 F-16 aircraft to Croatia, equipped with Israeli electronic systems, required American approval.
Washington, however, demanded that Israel only sell the planes in their original condition, removing the Israeli upgrades.
Furthermore, Mattis reportedly rejected a personal appeal by Netanyahu two weeks ago, reminding the Israeli prime minister that the United States “goes to great lengths to help its closest ally in the Middle East.”
The Israeli official added that "for reasons we don't fully understand, the Americans hardened their conditions and, apparently, we misread their position on the deal.”
“Practically, the F-16 deal with Croatia is dead and we don't think it is possible to get an agreement that will reconcile the US conditions and the Croatian demands in the tender.”
Last week, Mattis cancelled a planned trip to Israel that had been reportedly set to be focused on talks regarding Iran and Syria. The move came after the defense secretary resigned, citing disagreements with President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces from Syria.
As the US government is in shutdown due to a dispute with Congress over the allocation of $5 billion in funds needed for Trump’s proposed southern border wall, the US enforced a whooping 10-year $38-billion aid package to Tel Aviv last October.
The aid package, which includes an annual $3.3-billion contribution, was signed during the tenure of former US President Barack Obama in 2016. The package will provide Israel with free military material until 2028.
Earlier in October, Congress further proposed a motion to legally enforce the aid package, ensuring that future presidents could not suspend the package or use it to pressure Israel.
The motion, which has yet to be approved by the Senate, seeks to set up a special mechanism to fund the aid independently from the annual budget as to protect it from probable budgetary disputes between Congress and the White House.
Last March, Congress also approved a record-setting $705-million budget for Tel Aviv’s missile programs in 2018.
Outgoing United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis has rejected an appeal made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve an Israeli sale of US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets, a report says.
Washington criticized the sale as a move to weaken and compete with the American arms market, according to an unnamed Israeli official speaking to Israel’s Channel 10 television network on Thursday.
The $500-million sale of 12 F-16 aircraft to Croatia, equipped with Israeli electronic systems, required American approval.
Washington, however, demanded that Israel only sell the planes in their original condition, removing the Israeli upgrades.
Furthermore, Mattis reportedly rejected a personal appeal by Netanyahu two weeks ago, reminding the Israeli prime minister that the United States “goes to great lengths to help its closest ally in the Middle East.”
The Israeli official added that "for reasons we don't fully understand, the Americans hardened their conditions and, apparently, we misread their position on the deal.”
“Practically, the F-16 deal with Croatia is dead and we don't think it is possible to get an agreement that will reconcile the US conditions and the Croatian demands in the tender.”
Last week, Mattis cancelled a planned trip to Israel that had been reportedly set to be focused on talks regarding Iran and Syria. The move came after the defense secretary resigned, citing disagreements with President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces from Syria.
As the US government is in shutdown due to a dispute with Congress over the allocation of $5 billion in funds needed for Trump’s proposed southern border wall, the US enforced a whooping 10-year $38-billion aid package to Tel Aviv last October.
The aid package, which includes an annual $3.3-billion contribution, was signed during the tenure of former US President Barack Obama in 2016. The package will provide Israel with free military material until 2028.
Earlier in October, Congress further proposed a motion to legally enforce the aid package, ensuring that future presidents could not suspend the package or use it to pressure Israel.
The motion, which has yet to be approved by the Senate, seeks to set up a special mechanism to fund the aid independently from the annual budget as to protect it from probable budgetary disputes between Congress and the White House.
Last March, Congress also approved a record-setting $705-million budget for Tel Aviv’s missile programs in 2018.
World’s seventh largest bank, HSBC, has divested from Israeli weapons maker Elbit Systems over human rights concerns, in a move seen as a victory for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement that fights Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
While HSBC had yet to officially announce the decision, informed sources within the UK-based bank confirmed Thursday that it had ended its investments in Elbit, one of Israel’s biggest military contractors.
The company states that although it never takes sides on political issues, it still "observes international human rights principles" that govern businesses.
British activist group “War on Want” announced Thursday that HSBC decided to divest from Elbit after receiving over 24,000 emails from people concerned about its ties to Elbit and other firms that helped Israel suppress the Palestinian people.
In their emails, the activists told HSBC that its involvement with the Elbit Systems violated the bank’s self-proclaimed policy of not providing financial services to “companies involved in the production or selling of cluster munitions.”
It also was in breach of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the group added.
“HSBC has taken a positive first step in divesting from Elbit Systems, the notorious manufacturer of drones, chemical weapons, cluster bomb artillery systems, and other technology used in attacks against Palestinian civilians, and to militarize walls and borders around the world,” Ryvka Barnard, War on Want’s senior campaigner on militarism and security, said.
“Doing business with companies like Elbit means profiting from violence and human rights violation, which is both immoral and a contravention of international law,” she added.
Barnard noted that HSBC was still maintaining ties with over a dozen other Israeli firms involved in crimes against Palestinians.
In fact, HSBC’s $3.92 million investment in Elbit was a small fraction of the $1.05bn it has invested in companies that provided equipment to the Israeli military, according to War on Want.
Elbit Systems is Israel's second largest arms manufacturer, according to Who Profits, a group that tracks companies benefiting from Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), another pro-BDS organization in Britain, also hailed the banking giant’s decision and called on other companies to follow suit.
Besides HSBC, other major companies such as Airbnb and Quakers in Britain as well as Leeds University have made similar announcements this year, joining the BDS movement.
PSC director Ben Jamal said HSBC's decision shows BDS' effectiveness "as a tactic against Israel’s continued flouting of international law and human rights.”
While HSBC had yet to officially announce the decision, informed sources within the UK-based bank confirmed Thursday that it had ended its investments in Elbit, one of Israel’s biggest military contractors.
The company states that although it never takes sides on political issues, it still "observes international human rights principles" that govern businesses.
British activist group “War on Want” announced Thursday that HSBC decided to divest from Elbit after receiving over 24,000 emails from people concerned about its ties to Elbit and other firms that helped Israel suppress the Palestinian people.
In their emails, the activists told HSBC that its involvement with the Elbit Systems violated the bank’s self-proclaimed policy of not providing financial services to “companies involved in the production or selling of cluster munitions.”
It also was in breach of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the group added.
“HSBC has taken a positive first step in divesting from Elbit Systems, the notorious manufacturer of drones, chemical weapons, cluster bomb artillery systems, and other technology used in attacks against Palestinian civilians, and to militarize walls and borders around the world,” Ryvka Barnard, War on Want’s senior campaigner on militarism and security, said.
“Doing business with companies like Elbit means profiting from violence and human rights violation, which is both immoral and a contravention of international law,” she added.
Barnard noted that HSBC was still maintaining ties with over a dozen other Israeli firms involved in crimes against Palestinians.
In fact, HSBC’s $3.92 million investment in Elbit was a small fraction of the $1.05bn it has invested in companies that provided equipment to the Israeli military, according to War on Want.
Elbit Systems is Israel's second largest arms manufacturer, according to Who Profits, a group that tracks companies benefiting from Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), another pro-BDS organization in Britain, also hailed the banking giant’s decision and called on other companies to follow suit.
Besides HSBC, other major companies such as Airbnb and Quakers in Britain as well as Leeds University have made similar announcements this year, joining the BDS movement.
PSC director Ben Jamal said HSBC's decision shows BDS' effectiveness "as a tactic against Israel’s continued flouting of international law and human rights.”
11 dec 2018
The Indian defense ministry has announced plans to withdraw from a deal with Israeli army contractor Rafael, for the Spike Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM).
The deal was originally agreed upon in 2014, but the Indian defense ministry scrapped the deal in January of this year, reportedly planning to develop missiles domestically instead, through the government’s Defense Research and Development Organization.
However, when Netanyahu visited India later in January, on a trip to foster closer economic ties between the two nations, he declared that the deal was ‘back on the table’ and that the outlook was ‘very positive’.
The deal appears to have hit another stumbling block, however, as the Indian defense ministry expresses doubts about the performance of the missiles in hot, desert conditions, requesting that they undergo additional testing in the summer of 2019.
Israel and India trade some $5 billion annually, primarily in arms and diamonds. This deal was seen as something of a milestone for relations between the two countries, deepening diplomatic and military ties.
The deal was originally agreed upon in 2014, but the Indian defense ministry scrapped the deal in January of this year, reportedly planning to develop missiles domestically instead, through the government’s Defense Research and Development Organization.
However, when Netanyahu visited India later in January, on a trip to foster closer economic ties between the two nations, he declared that the deal was ‘back on the table’ and that the outlook was ‘very positive’.
The deal appears to have hit another stumbling block, however, as the Indian defense ministry expresses doubts about the performance of the missiles in hot, desert conditions, requesting that they undergo additional testing in the summer of 2019.
Israel and India trade some $5 billion annually, primarily in arms and diamonds. This deal was seen as something of a milestone for relations between the two countries, deepening diplomatic and military ties.
10 dec 2018
by Mark Curtis
Britain's international trade secretary, Liam Fox, recently visited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pledging to increase trade and investment between the two countries, which already stands at a record $9bn.
While more than 230 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more injured by Israeli forces since March, London's ties with Tel Aviv are growing ever stronger.
Yet, I cannot find a single article in the British "mainstream" media noting the depth of supportive UK policies towards Israel. This media blackout is allowing Britain to continue backing Israeli aggression in the occupied territories with impunity.
Arms as usual
In 2016 and 2017, when Theresa May has been prime minister, the UK sold £402m ($512m) worth of military goods to Israel, including components for combat aircraft, tanks, drones and military communications. As Prince William visited Israel in late June, the UK approved export licences for 34 types of military-related equipment.
These arms exports have been authorised while Palestinians risk their lives in the Great March of Return demonstrations on the perimeter fence between Gaza and Israel. Some 33 children were among those killed, alongside more than 24,000 Palestinians injured. Dozens of people have had limbs amputated, including 15 children, while the UN reports that 1,200 patients will require long-term limb reconstruction.
But many services are unavailable in Gaza as the healthcare system grapples with the massive influx of casualties. By the end of October, only 74 of 335 exit-permit applications had been approved by Israeli authorities for injured Palestinians needing attention outside of Gaza.
Documents revealed by Edward Snowden in 2014 showed that the US National Security Agency was providing to its Israeli counterpart, the Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU, also known as Unit 8200) data used to monitor and target Palestinians.
A key partner of the NSA and ISNU was shown to be Britain's spy centre, GCHQ, which was feeding the Israelis selected communications data it collected. In 2009, during Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza that left nearly 1,400 people dead, including 344 children, this involved sharing information on Palestinians.
A 'strong partnership'
Is the UK doing this now? Last year, Robert Hannigan, the outgoing director of GCHQ, said that his organisation had a "strong partnership with our Israeli counterparts in signals intelligence" and that "we are building on an excellent cyber relationship with a range of Israeli bodies".
Earlier this year, Hannigan became chair of BlueVoyant Europe, a global cybersecurity firm whose operations are managed by, among others, a former deputy commander of Unit 8200 and a former division head in the Israeli security agency Shin Bet. Another key player in the firm is former British minister Lord Mandelson, who chairs BlueVoyant's European Advisory Group.
Cybersecurity has become a key area of UK-Israeli cooperation. A recent report by the British Israeli lobby group, Bicom, notes that "government-to-government cooperation between the UK and Israel in cybersecurity is strong and has been described by a senior UK official as a 'first-order partnership'".
It added that "there are close working relationships between the countries' national cybersecurity agencies and acknowledged cross-fertilisation in the development of their national security strategies".
Indeed, the report notes that "it is perhaps no coincidence" that the former UK ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, returned from his posting in Tel Aviv in 2015 to become director of cybersecurity at the UK Cabinet Office.
In striking evidence of Britain's reliance on Israel’s cybersecurity sector is the report's claim that since major British banks are clients of many Israeli cyber companies, "the vast majority of digital transactions and credit card ecommerce in the UK is essentially protected by Israeli technologies".
Deepening military relations
As I documented in an article for Middle East Eye in June, the UK's military relationship with Israel is extensive, covering areas such as naval cooperation and the provision of components for Israeli nuclear-armed submarines. But the lack of journalistic investigations means that few details have emerged on many programmes.
In September, the government revealed that it was providing military training to Israel. This followed news in 2016 that British military pilots were due to be trained by a company owned by Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems. Training is longstanding: in 2011, it was revealed that British soldiers were being trained in Israel in the use of drones that had been "field-tested on Palestinians" during the 2009 war in Gaza.
The contracts keep coming. Earlier this year, the UK's Ministry of Defence agreed to a contract worth up to $52m to purchase a battlefield management application from Elbit Systems UK, while Israel's armour specialist, Plasan, was selected by the UK Ministry of Defence to design and produce armour protection for Britain's new Type 26 frigates being built by BAE Systems in Glasgow.
At the Conservative Party conference in October, senior government figures queued up at an event hosted by Conservative Friends of Israel to defend Israeli actions in the occupied territories. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson stated: "In terms of defence, Britain and Israel are working increasingly closely together. There's a real bond."
Facilitating Israeli violence
Similarly, Liam Fox told Netanyahu last week: "I am looking forward to an enhanced and even more ambitious trade and investment relationship with Israel as we work closer together going forward into the future."
Netanyahu replied: "Britain is in fact our largest trade partner in Europe ... we value the friendship, we value the prospects for the future."
Fox and Williamson are continuing the strategy of their boss, Theresa May, who has said of Israel: "I want to build the strongest and deepest possible relationship between our two countries."
Yet, the reality of what this means in practice - especially in terms of British military and intelligence support for Israel, and how this facilitates Israeli aggression - is simply not being reported in the British media. The longer that continues, the easier it will be for Israel to continue to act with impunity for its crimes.
- Mark Curtis is a historian and analyst of UK foreign policy and international development and the author of six books. His article appeared in the Middle East Eye website.
Britain's international trade secretary, Liam Fox, recently visited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pledging to increase trade and investment between the two countries, which already stands at a record $9bn.
While more than 230 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more injured by Israeli forces since March, London's ties with Tel Aviv are growing ever stronger.
Yet, I cannot find a single article in the British "mainstream" media noting the depth of supportive UK policies towards Israel. This media blackout is allowing Britain to continue backing Israeli aggression in the occupied territories with impunity.
Arms as usual
In 2016 and 2017, when Theresa May has been prime minister, the UK sold £402m ($512m) worth of military goods to Israel, including components for combat aircraft, tanks, drones and military communications. As Prince William visited Israel in late June, the UK approved export licences for 34 types of military-related equipment.
These arms exports have been authorised while Palestinians risk their lives in the Great March of Return demonstrations on the perimeter fence between Gaza and Israel. Some 33 children were among those killed, alongside more than 24,000 Palestinians injured. Dozens of people have had limbs amputated, including 15 children, while the UN reports that 1,200 patients will require long-term limb reconstruction.
But many services are unavailable in Gaza as the healthcare system grapples with the massive influx of casualties. By the end of October, only 74 of 335 exit-permit applications had been approved by Israeli authorities for injured Palestinians needing attention outside of Gaza.
Documents revealed by Edward Snowden in 2014 showed that the US National Security Agency was providing to its Israeli counterpart, the Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU, also known as Unit 8200) data used to monitor and target Palestinians.
A key partner of the NSA and ISNU was shown to be Britain's spy centre, GCHQ, which was feeding the Israelis selected communications data it collected. In 2009, during Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza that left nearly 1,400 people dead, including 344 children, this involved sharing information on Palestinians.
A 'strong partnership'
Is the UK doing this now? Last year, Robert Hannigan, the outgoing director of GCHQ, said that his organisation had a "strong partnership with our Israeli counterparts in signals intelligence" and that "we are building on an excellent cyber relationship with a range of Israeli bodies".
Earlier this year, Hannigan became chair of BlueVoyant Europe, a global cybersecurity firm whose operations are managed by, among others, a former deputy commander of Unit 8200 and a former division head in the Israeli security agency Shin Bet. Another key player in the firm is former British minister Lord Mandelson, who chairs BlueVoyant's European Advisory Group.
Cybersecurity has become a key area of UK-Israeli cooperation. A recent report by the British Israeli lobby group, Bicom, notes that "government-to-government cooperation between the UK and Israel in cybersecurity is strong and has been described by a senior UK official as a 'first-order partnership'".
It added that "there are close working relationships between the countries' national cybersecurity agencies and acknowledged cross-fertilisation in the development of their national security strategies".
Indeed, the report notes that "it is perhaps no coincidence" that the former UK ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, returned from his posting in Tel Aviv in 2015 to become director of cybersecurity at the UK Cabinet Office.
In striking evidence of Britain's reliance on Israel’s cybersecurity sector is the report's claim that since major British banks are clients of many Israeli cyber companies, "the vast majority of digital transactions and credit card ecommerce in the UK is essentially protected by Israeli technologies".
Deepening military relations
As I documented in an article for Middle East Eye in June, the UK's military relationship with Israel is extensive, covering areas such as naval cooperation and the provision of components for Israeli nuclear-armed submarines. But the lack of journalistic investigations means that few details have emerged on many programmes.
In September, the government revealed that it was providing military training to Israel. This followed news in 2016 that British military pilots were due to be trained by a company owned by Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems. Training is longstanding: in 2011, it was revealed that British soldiers were being trained in Israel in the use of drones that had been "field-tested on Palestinians" during the 2009 war in Gaza.
The contracts keep coming. Earlier this year, the UK's Ministry of Defence agreed to a contract worth up to $52m to purchase a battlefield management application from Elbit Systems UK, while Israel's armour specialist, Plasan, was selected by the UK Ministry of Defence to design and produce armour protection for Britain's new Type 26 frigates being built by BAE Systems in Glasgow.
At the Conservative Party conference in October, senior government figures queued up at an event hosted by Conservative Friends of Israel to defend Israeli actions in the occupied territories. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson stated: "In terms of defence, Britain and Israel are working increasingly closely together. There's a real bond."
Facilitating Israeli violence
Similarly, Liam Fox told Netanyahu last week: "I am looking forward to an enhanced and even more ambitious trade and investment relationship with Israel as we work closer together going forward into the future."
Netanyahu replied: "Britain is in fact our largest trade partner in Europe ... we value the friendship, we value the prospects for the future."
Fox and Williamson are continuing the strategy of their boss, Theresa May, who has said of Israel: "I want to build the strongest and deepest possible relationship between our two countries."
Yet, the reality of what this means in practice - especially in terms of British military and intelligence support for Israel, and how this facilitates Israeli aggression - is simply not being reported in the British media. The longer that continues, the easier it will be for Israel to continue to act with impunity for its crimes.
- Mark Curtis is a historian and analyst of UK foreign policy and international development and the author of six books. His article appeared in the Middle East Eye website.
29 nov 2018
Amnesty International has called on the Israeli ministry of military affairs to suspend the license of a cyber firm which was reportedly in talks with Saudi Arabia, to sell super-stealth spyware to the country and amid revelations that the company’s software had been used in “a series of egregious human rights violations.”
Amnesty International Israel said in a statement, according to Press TV/Al Ray, that Israeli cyberarms firm NSO Group “has gone out of control.”
Sources in the Israeli ministry later said it was strict about granting licenses according to the law, and that they could not discuss the existence of NSO’s license, for security reasons.
Amnesty Israel rejected the response and said it intended to pursue legal action.
The development came on the heels of a report published, by Haaretz daily newspaper, stating that NSO representatives offered Pegasus 3 technology to high-profile Saudi officials back in 2017.
The report, citing a complaint filed with Israeli police, by an unnamed European businessman, noted that the Saudi officials included former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal and Nasser al-Qahtani, who presented himself as the deputy of the current intelligence chief.
The businessman insists that the Pegasus 3 affair began when he was contacted by an Israeli man dealing in cyber-defense technologies and identified only as W., who asked him to use his connections in the Persian Gulf states to help do business in the region.
During a series of meetings, Saudi officials presented a list of software they sought to obtain to hack into the phones of pro-democracy campaigners, Muslim ministers and intellectuals, in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
In the summer of 2017, W. negotiated a deal to sell NSO’s Pegasus 3 system to the Saudis for $55 million.
Despite an oral agreement with W., the European businessman says that he started ignoring his phone calls when he asked for his 5-percent commission ($2.75 million). The businessman filed the complaint in April of this year and has since been interrogated by the Israeli police’s fraud department and contacted by income tax authorities.
Earlier this month, former US National Security Agency contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden said that Saudi Arabia may have used software made by an Israeli cyber firm to track prominent dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed after visiting the kingdom’s consulate in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul, in early October.
Addressing a conference in Tel Aviv via a video call from Russia, Snowden said Pegasus spyware was used to track opponents.
“The Saudis, of course, knew that Khashoggi was going to go to the consulate, as he got an appointment. But how did they know his intention and plans?” he pointed out.
Snowden went on to say that the smartphone of one of Khashoggi’s friends, who was living in exile in Canada, had been infected with Pegasus spyware.
He said that the software allowed the Saudis to collect information about Khashoggi.
“The truth is that they pursued some of his friends through a program written by the Israeli company,” Snowden pointed out.
Khashoggi was killed on October 2, after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Once inside, he was immediately strangled and then dismembered, according to the Istanbul Prosecutor’s office.
A senior Turkish official told The Washington Post, on November 2, that the slain journalist’s body was destroyed in acid either on the grounds of the Saudi consulate or at the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that biological evidence discovered in the diplomatic mission garden supports the theory that Khashoggi’s body was disposed of close to where he was killed and dismembered.
“Khashoggi’s body was not in need of burying,” the official was quoted as saying.
Khashoggi, a distinguished commentator on Saudi affairs who wrote for The Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, had lived in self-imposed exile in the US since September 2017, when he left Saudi Arabia over fears of the Riyadh regime’s crackdown on critical voices.
His death has subjected the Riyadh regime and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to strict scrutiny.
Hatice Cengiz, the journalist’s fiancée, has accused Saudi officials of a massive cover-up.
Amnesty International Israel said in a statement, according to Press TV/Al Ray, that Israeli cyberarms firm NSO Group “has gone out of control.”
Sources in the Israeli ministry later said it was strict about granting licenses according to the law, and that they could not discuss the existence of NSO’s license, for security reasons.
Amnesty Israel rejected the response and said it intended to pursue legal action.
The development came on the heels of a report published, by Haaretz daily newspaper, stating that NSO representatives offered Pegasus 3 technology to high-profile Saudi officials back in 2017.
The report, citing a complaint filed with Israeli police, by an unnamed European businessman, noted that the Saudi officials included former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal and Nasser al-Qahtani, who presented himself as the deputy of the current intelligence chief.
The businessman insists that the Pegasus 3 affair began when he was contacted by an Israeli man dealing in cyber-defense technologies and identified only as W., who asked him to use his connections in the Persian Gulf states to help do business in the region.
During a series of meetings, Saudi officials presented a list of software they sought to obtain to hack into the phones of pro-democracy campaigners, Muslim ministers and intellectuals, in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
In the summer of 2017, W. negotiated a deal to sell NSO’s Pegasus 3 system to the Saudis for $55 million.
Despite an oral agreement with W., the European businessman says that he started ignoring his phone calls when he asked for his 5-percent commission ($2.75 million). The businessman filed the complaint in April of this year and has since been interrogated by the Israeli police’s fraud department and contacted by income tax authorities.
Earlier this month, former US National Security Agency contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden said that Saudi Arabia may have used software made by an Israeli cyber firm to track prominent dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed after visiting the kingdom’s consulate in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul, in early October.
Addressing a conference in Tel Aviv via a video call from Russia, Snowden said Pegasus spyware was used to track opponents.
“The Saudis, of course, knew that Khashoggi was going to go to the consulate, as he got an appointment. But how did they know his intention and plans?” he pointed out.
Snowden went on to say that the smartphone of one of Khashoggi’s friends, who was living in exile in Canada, had been infected with Pegasus spyware.
He said that the software allowed the Saudis to collect information about Khashoggi.
“The truth is that they pursued some of his friends through a program written by the Israeli company,” Snowden pointed out.
Khashoggi was killed on October 2, after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Once inside, he was immediately strangled and then dismembered, according to the Istanbul Prosecutor’s office.
A senior Turkish official told The Washington Post, on November 2, that the slain journalist’s body was destroyed in acid either on the grounds of the Saudi consulate or at the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that biological evidence discovered in the diplomatic mission garden supports the theory that Khashoggi’s body was disposed of close to where he was killed and dismembered.
“Khashoggi’s body was not in need of burying,” the official was quoted as saying.
Khashoggi, a distinguished commentator on Saudi affairs who wrote for The Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, had lived in self-imposed exile in the US since September 2017, when he left Saudi Arabia over fears of the Riyadh regime’s crackdown on critical voices.
His death has subjected the Riyadh regime and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to strict scrutiny.
Hatice Cengiz, the journalist’s fiancée, has accused Saudi officials of a massive cover-up.
28 nov 2018
South Korea announced on Tuesday that it was purchasing two advanced radar systems from the Israeli occupation’s war arsenal that are meant to improve its ability to detect incoming missiles.
The two Green Pine radar detectors will be provided by the ELTA Systems Ltd., a subsidiary of the IAI Israel Aerospace Industries.
The purchase came despite ongoing efforts between South and North Korea to end the war that the two countries have officially been waging since 1950.
The radar deal is worth approximately $292 million, a South Korean official told Reuters.
In its announcement, Seoul said the systems could “spot and track ballistic missiles from a long distance at an early stage.” North Korea was not explicitly mentioned.
South Korea already possesses earlier versions of the Green Pine system. The new variant Seoul announced it was purchasing on Tuesday — the third iteration, known as the Block C — is designed to both provide an early warning about an attack and work in tandem with a missile defense system to intercept the incoming projectile.
The two Green Pine radar detectors will be provided by the ELTA Systems Ltd., a subsidiary of the IAI Israel Aerospace Industries.
The purchase came despite ongoing efforts between South and North Korea to end the war that the two countries have officially been waging since 1950.
The radar deal is worth approximately $292 million, a South Korean official told Reuters.
In its announcement, Seoul said the systems could “spot and track ballistic missiles from a long distance at an early stage.” North Korea was not explicitly mentioned.
South Korea already possesses earlier versions of the Green Pine system. The new variant Seoul announced it was purchasing on Tuesday — the third iteration, known as the Block C — is designed to both provide an early warning about an attack and work in tandem with a missile defense system to intercept the incoming projectile.
