France’s Macron calls Israeli PM, urges him to look into spyware allegations

• Bennett has defended his government saying the events occurred before he took office in May, Channel 12 reported 

• Macron called a  national security meeting on Thursday to discuss the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware after reports about its use in France emerged

French President Emmanuel Macron called Prime Minister Naftali Bennett this week and urged him to ensure the Israeli government looked into allegations involving spyware developed by Israel’s NSO Group, Channel 12 news reported on Saturday.

Bennett has defended his government saying the events occured before he took office in May, Channel 12 reported. 

Israel, however, has not officially confirmed the call so far.

Macron called a  national security meeting on Thursday to discuss the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, after reports about its use in France emerged.

Earlier, a consortium of major media companies, including the Washington Post, the Guardian and France’s Le Monde said that one of Macron’s phone numbers was on the leaked list of potential Pegasus targets.

The head of Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said on Thursday that Israel has established a committee to review allegations that NSO Group’s controversial Pegasus phone surveillance software was misused.

Pegasus can hack into mobile phones without a user knowing, enabling clients to read every message, track a user’s location and tap into the phone’s camera and microphone.