A few weeks ago, reports emerged that software sold to various governments by the Israeli firm NSO—designed to be used to track terrorists and criminals—was being used by some unscrupulous regimes to spy on journalists, dissidents, and other governments. The news has led to investigations in Israel and some diplomatic spats. Particularly incensed is France, which claims that Morocco used the technology to eavesdrop on its top politicians. Eyal Zisser seeks to bring some perspective:
[T]he concern in France, and in Washington incidentally, is tainted with quite a bit of hypocrisy. Espionage is a severe violation of personal privacy, but—and this is a big but—it doesn’t kill. On the other hand, weapons and other related systems certainly do kill, and these are sold by the French, and by the Americans, too, across the globe.
France, for example, is the third-largest weapons exporter in the world, after the United States and Russia. Over the past two years, the scope of its weapons exports has amounted to some two billion dollars. . . . Such activity isn’t considered a human-rights violation and doesn’t entail spying on journalists and civilians; it merely involves weapons that are used to kill nameless, faceless human beings and is, therefore, somehow, far less troubling. We all recall France’s involvement in the construction of Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor some four decades ago. France provided the technology for the reactor and even promised to give the Iraqis the enriched uranium necessary to make it operational—all in exchange for Iraqi oil.
The reason for the anger at Israel is hard to gauge. Everyone sells weapons, everyone spies on everyone else. Perhaps they are mad because Israel has been able to join the “big boys’ club,” becoming a player in the fields of weapons and technology. Or maybe this is also an attempt to turn Israel into a punching bag for progressive forces around the world.
Read more on Israel Hayom: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/selling-spyware-isnt-moral-but-selling-weapons-is/