Spanish judge closes NSO Group spyware probe due to lack of cooperation from Israel

Spain’s High Court on Thursday closed a probe into the use of Pegasus spyware to snoop on devices of top government officials due a lack of cooperation from Israel.

The case dates to May 2022, when the court launched a probe into the alleged spying on devices belonging to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Defence Minister Margarita Robles. Zero-click spyware known as Pegasus, which is manufactured by Israel’s NSO Group, was allegedly used in the hacks.

The NSO Group is widely seen as receiving cover from the Israeli government, which regulates the export of spyware and has done little in response to scores of Pegasus attacks on members of civil society. NSO’s founders and research team have deep ties to Israeli military intelligence with many having served in top cyber agencies.

Israel has not responded to five cooperation requests, breaking “the balance inherent in international cooperation and [violating] the principle of good faith that should govern relations between states,” Judge José Luis Calama, of the Audiencia Nacional high court, reportedly said in court documents.

Spain’s thwarted probe found evidence of crimes enabled by Pegasus, which the court has reportedly said “jeopardized the security of the Spanish State.”

Calama had previously closed the probe due to a lack of cooperation from Israel, but reopened it in April 2024 after French officials shared information about similar hacks of French journalists, lawyers and members of the government and parliament with Pegasus.

The NSO Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to Sánchez and Robles, Pegasus was also allegedly used to attack devices belonging to the ministers of the interior and agriculture.

The case file reportedly shows the prime minister’s phone was infected five times.

Calama has been focused on uncovering who ordered the hack and reportedly said that Israel’s refusal to cooperate is a “manifest breach of its international obligations.”

In March, a provisional court in Barcelona ordered the indictments of three former senior executives at NSO Group for their alleged role in a separate hacking scandal which targeted at least 63 Catalan members of civil society.