Q: French President Emmanuel Macron has changed his phone and number after reports that he was targeted with Pegasus. This shows that Israel's spying is not limited to its foes. What is your comment?
A: A few historical incidents show how Israel has spied on its friends as much as it did on its foes, and Pegasus is only a new tool for Israel’s widespread spying activities:
a) In the aftermath of the 1968 Israeli attack on Beirut airport and the destruction of 13 civilian airplanes on the tarmac, French President Charles de Gaulle ordered an embargo on arms sales to Israel, which, at the time, had ordered the building of 12 military ships in the Cherbourg shipyards. In order to bypass the embargo, Israel sent spies posing as tourists to Cherbourg, where, on Christmas Eve 1969, they took the boats and moved them to Israel.