5 ms·

Well duh. Their activities and standpoints are obviously important to know about from the perspective of Israeli national security. I'd be extremely surprised i

by WJW 5y ago

Well duh. Their activities and standpoints are obviously important to know about from the perspective of Israeli national security. I'd be extremely surprised if senior Israeli officials weren't targeted by spyware from the EU members (although probably not by the EU itself as it lacks an army and spy agency). Spies gonna spy.

sschueller 5y ago
Would your statement be the same if it was Russia or China doing the spying?
- woolion 5y ago
  Of course, only criminals have something to hide. Although, I think this show how inverted the mentality is: you're expecting (dirty) spying to be between competing entities or outright enemies, not between allies. Unless allies aren't really so.
  - kergonath 5y ago
    I am not sure about that. I would definitely expect allies to keep tabs on each other for several reasons. I would not expect them to sell spying capabilities that could be used against their allies to any dictator who comes asking, however. Or really compromise their infrastructure. Remember that the US did spy on several European heads of states a couple of years ago, including bugging their phones (or attempting to).
    - woolion 5y ago
      Did I forget? The US spying has been linked to explicitly screwing Europe of huge industrial contracts, the biggest one probably being a Boeing/Airbus competition. I don't see that invalidating anything, certainly not showing that this is harmless.
- WJW 5y ago
  Yes of course. In fact, I'd be super surprised if the Russian and Chinese spy agencies weren't trying to spy on EU leadership, US leadership, each other and on all sorts of other countries/companies/individuals besides. The USA and various EU companies also all spy on pretty much everyone. International diplomacy is the dirtiest game in town and everyone knows it. When someone fucks up and some spying is discovered the politicians will act all shocked for a week or so and then it quiets down again because nobody wants the public to think all too much about how much spying on allies their own country does.
- raxxorraxor 5y ago
  This was exactly one for one the statement we heard when it was made public that domestic agencies do spy on the population, which is far, far more relevant than Russia or China doing it, obviously.
T-A 5y ago
> Their activities and standpoints are obviously important to know about from the perspective of Israeli national security. The claim here is that the spyware was Israeli, not that the state actor using it was Israel. NSO has customers all over the world.

by WJW 5y ago

sschueller 5y ago

Would your statement be the same if it was Russia or China doing the spying?

woolion 5y ago
Of course, only criminals have something to hide. Although, I think this show how inverted the mentality is: you're expecting (dirty) spying to be between competing entities or outright enemies, not between allies. Unless allies aren't really so.
- kergonath 5y ago
  I am not sure about that. I would definitely expect allies to keep tabs on each other for several reasons. I would not expect them to sell spying capabilities that could be used against their allies to any dictator who comes asking, however. Or really compromise their infrastructure. Remember that the US did spy on several European heads of states a couple of years ago, including bugging their phones (or attempting to).
  - woolion 5y ago
    Did I forget? The US spying has been linked to explicitly screwing Europe of huge industrial contracts, the biggest one probably being a Boeing/Airbus competition. I don't see that invalidating anything, certainly not showing that this is harmless.
WJW 5y ago
Yes of course. In fact, I'd be super surprised if the Russian and Chinese spy agencies weren't trying to spy on EU leadership, US leadership, each other and on all sorts of other countries/companies/individuals besides. The USA and various EU companies also all spy on pretty much everyone. International diplomacy is the dirtiest game in town and everyone knows it. When someone fucks up and some spying is discovered the politicians will act all shocked for a week or so and then it quiets down again because nobody wants the public to think all too much about how much spying on allies their own country does.
raxxorraxor 5y ago
This was exactly one for one the statement we heard when it was made public that domestic agencies do spy on the population, which is far, far more relevant than Russia or China doing it, obviously.

T-A 5y ago

> Their activities and standpoints are obviously important to know about from the perspective of Israeli national security. The claim here is that the spyware was Israeli, not that the state actor using it was Israel. NSO has customers all over the world.