Why Israel is a friend of budding autocrats around the world
I have spent more than a decade investigating the Israeli arms and surveillance industries, and have always understood that the Israeli state is far more involved than it publicly admits.
The revolving door between the public and private sector is well-known, but how exactly did some of the biggest Israeli companies achieve such incredible access to governments around the world, from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia?
Beyond Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spyware diplomacy - a highly effective way to make friends, by offering sophisticated tools to spy on perceived enemies, journalists, human rights workers and even friends - there were always gaps in our knowledge.
But a recent revelation provides a window into how it happened. In 2013, Shalev Hulio - one of the founders of NSO Group, which developed the phone spyware Pegasus - travelled to Panama on an Israeli diplomatic passport and stayed at the Israeli embassy.
The vital reporting by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and two other media outlets found that Hulio was central to NSO Group’s sale of Pegasus to Panama in 2012, and that he signed the contract with the Panamanian government.
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“Panamanian migration records obtained by reporters show Hulio arrived at Tocumen airport in Panama City from the U.S. on a Copa Airlines flight on December 3, 2013, and used a diplomatic passport to enter the country. The records state Hulio’s visit was for ‘recreation’ and list his profession as ‘diplomat,’” the report notes.
This piece of the puzzle confirms part of a story that has been hard to pin down with documents, and not just conjecture: NSO Group and many other Israeli arms and surveillance firms operate as an arm of the Israeli state, advancing its interests, biases and agendas - and operating with its full protection.
Political leverage
The vast treasure trove of information that has been gathered by NSO Group and other like-minded firms is incalculable, as they are the ones extracting data from mobile phones (as opposed to the paying clients).
It’s thus inevitable that NSO Group, and by extension the Israeli government, have gathered information and secrets that could be used for political leverage on any number of countries. This is one way that Israel maintains such significant diplomatic leverage.
The story about spyware and hacking battles over the last decade, and Israel’s central place within them, has not gone away. Israeli spying tools continue to be used against unsuspecting politicians, journalists and activists.
A rampaging Israeli government wants to make friends in the international community, as public opinion turns against it in an unprecedented way
From the European Parliament to Russia, the lack of regulation in the industry has allowed it to metastasize without restraint. But the threat of cyber-tools like Pegasus seems relatively minor when compared with the explosion of Israeli election interference around the globe.
From Scotland to France, and Colombia to Honduras, Israeli companies are deploying the dark arts to push for pro-Israel candidates to win. This includes massive bot farms, spreading disinformation about pro-Palestinian candidates, and manipulating social media. As with the spyware industry, the world responds with paralysis and fear.
This is an issue that goes to the heart of democracy and the viability of its existence. Israeli electoral manipulation services are for sale to the highest bidder, and they’re already twisting what we know and understand about the very essence of free and fair elections.
Destabilisation campaigns
Take Latin America, a region that’s experiencing a wave of Israeli-led disruption campaigns. Earlier this year, a story surfaced about alleged collaboration among the Trump administration, the Netanyahu regime, and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was sentenced in the US in 2024 on massive drug-related charges - and pardoned the following year.
The plan? Destabilise “unfriendly” governments and aim to install pro-Israel and pro-US elements to undermine left-wingers, from Colombia to Mexico (the former campaign has already been successful, with the recent win of president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella).
Brazil may be next, with presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro - son of the previous president, Jair Bolsonaro - launching his campaign with an endorsement from Netanyahu.
It’s fair to presume that Israeli electoral hackers will be working night and day to assist the Bolsonaro campaign and sabotage Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the run-up to the October general election.
Honduras once again appears to be a central point around which Israeli and American far-right pressures are being applied; the country is reportedly willing to give control of military bases and special economic zones to Israel and the US.
All of this is occurring while Israel is experiencing its biggest collapse in support in its history. This is a historic change - one that could well impact western politics in the coming years. But right now, Palestine is being trampled and erased, from Gaza to the occupied West Bank.
It’s hard to convey the scale of the displacement, violence and fear among Palestinians. This is the Israeli state on steroids, sensing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to remove as many Palestinians from their land as possible, making way for a truly Jewish supremacist and rabbinical state.
In this context, it makes sense that a rampaging Israeli government wants to make friends in the international community, as public opinion turns against it in an unprecedented way. Electoral manipulation might seem like a desperate move from a nation on the edge, but in reality it represents an acceleration of Israel as a reliable, autocratic ally - one that proudly discriminates against minorities and Palestinians, and inspires the surging far right in the process.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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