Israeli newspaper mocks Bin Salman of buying spyware from them

The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz published cartoons in which Mohammed bin Salman asked former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for permission to use the “Pegasus Israeli spy program”.

The newspaper wrote that Netanyahu agreed to Mohammad bin Salman’s request in exchange for opening Saudi airspace for the passage of “Israeli planes”.

In the caricature; “Mohammad bin Salman” says in a telephone call to Netanyahu: “I need this to stop our ‘drunkers’.”

This came after the New York Times reported that in 2020, a telephone call was made between Mohammed bin Salman and Benjamin Netanyahu about the Israeli spy device Pegasus. Israeli officials agreed to sell Pegasus to Saudi Arabia in 2017, and a $ 55 million contract was eventually signed with the Saudis.

An Israeli source told the New York Times that a group of military officials close to Benjamin Netanyahu had since dealt with the Saudis “with the utmost confidentiality” and hoped to win Bin Salman’s appreciation. However, the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, and speculation that the Israeli company was involved stopped the cooperation.

Bin Salman personally contacted Netanyahu and asked him to continue Pegasus’ activities in Saudi Arabia. The New York Times reported that the Saudis were able to gain Tel Aviv approval by opening their airspace to Israeli aircraft.

The Pegasus software was activated in 2019, when Netanyahu was negotiating with Bahrain and the UAE to normalize relations, and in September 2020, an agreement was signed between Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime.

Netanyahu is said to have personally suspended the Saudis’ access to Pegasus following the call.

The Saudi regime uses Israeli espionage to suppress the opposition and target its critics, which already has a worst record in human rights. 

There have been numerous reports of extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detention, disappearances, detention of political and human rights activists, and suppression of legitimate demands of religious minorities inside Saudi Arabia.

Many human rights groups and organizations have expressed concern about the use of spyware to suppress dissents in Saudi Arabia.