Israel lobby to remove NSO from US blacklist unsuccessful

NSO Group was placed on a US Commerce Department blacklist in November

Israeli spyware company NSO Group is reportedly lobbying to get off the United States government's blacklist, with unsuccessful efforts.

A new ProPublica report - produced with Israeli independent nonprofit news organization Shomrim - states that the company failed to get a response or set up a meeting between officials in NSO Group and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

According to the report, NSO “has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past year in payments to lobbyists, public relations companies and law firms,” citing “public records filed under the Foreign Agent Registration Act and conversations with people familiar with the effort.”

The firms have “approached members of the US House and Senate, as well as various media outlets and think tanks across the US, on NSO’s behalf.”

Those lobbying on behalf of NSO claim that the company's “customers are solely law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and by far are mainly democratic allies of the US and Israel in Western Europe.”

NSO also reportedly attempted to get the issue on the agenda for the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and US President Joe Biden, scheduled for this week.

The Israeli company was placed on a US Commerce Department blacklist in November after a series of allegations and accusations regarding its Pegasus spyware, mainly that it was used to target activists, journalists and politicians.