Ex-Israeli PM Olmert Worked for U.S. Blacklisted Spyware Maker Intellexa
A global investigation into the Israeli Predator spyware firm has revealed documents showing the former prime minister was invited to pitch a deal to a German spy agency. Olmert admits working with Intellexa, recently sanctioned by the U.S., until recently
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert worked for the offensive cyber firm Intellexa and was supposed to participate in a sales pitch to a German intelligence agency on behalf of the company that was recently blacklisted by the U.S. Olmert confirmed that he consulted for Intellexa, but noted that his ties to the firm ended a few months ago.
The revelations are part of the "Predator Files" investigation, which is based on documents and evidence obtained by French magazine Mediapart and German Der Spiegel. 15 media outlets led by the EIC (European Investigative Collaborations) participated in its analysis. Shomrim, via journalist Daniel Dolev, was the Israeli partner in the project. AmnestyTech, Amnesty International's forensic laboratory, assisted in the analysis of the technical findings. The investigation also reveals how the spyware was sold to Egyptian intelligence, and was pitched across the world (see separate story).
Intellexa, an intelligence and cyber arms firm created by former Israelis, was at least until recently registered in Greece and has related entities in Ireland and North Macedonia. It serves as a one-stop-shop for state surveillance needs.
This July, the U.S. Commerce Department blacklisted Intellexa and Cytrox, both owned by different Israeli nationals, among them the former military intelligence commander Tal Dilian, after their spyware was used against human rights activists, journalists and politicians. Both Intellexa and Cytrox, which developed Predator, are at the center of a massive political wiretapping storm in Greece.
Documents obtained by this project show communications from the start of 2022 between Bernd Schmidbauer, the former coordinator of Germany’s intelligence services, and the BSI, Germany’s federal information security agency, charged with cyber security in the country. Schmidbauer tried to organize a meeting between Intellexa officials and the then-head of the BSI, Arne Schoenbohm, to pitch a defensive cyber security product created by Intellexa. The communications reveal that the BSI was hesitant, offering instead to coordinate a meeting with more junior representatives.
On January 27, Schmidbauer wrote: “I don't understand how it will work and who on your behalf will be at the meeting. We plan to include a world-class expert, a former Israeli prime minister, and the vice president [of Intellexa] who is responsible for strategy in Europe. Please get back to me and update me so we know how to proceed with the meeting.”
Despite Schmidbauer’s persistence, the meeting never took place – and the BSI backtracked all together, saying that they had no need for a defensive cybersecurity product from Intellexa.
The document seen by this investigation had the former Israeli prime minister’s name redacted, but after Shomrim contacted Olmert by phone, he confirmed that he had worked for Intellexa. When asked about a meeting in Germany, he said, “he was not there.” Olmert did not provide further details. Schmidbauer and Olmert were spotted dining in Berlin together with a number of German lawmakers in April 2022, according to German media. Olmert refused to answer further questions, noting he was on vacation. However, he did say the consulting work he did for Intellexa ended a number of months ago.
Unlike Pegasus spyware maker NSO, which is regulated by the Israeli defense ministry, Intellexa has long operated from outside of Israel – and Israeli oversight. In 2018 it bought Cytrox and merged it into the alliance of digital surveillance firms founded in Cyprus and Greece by Dilian. Cytrox developed the infamous Predator spyware in North Macedonia, with millions of dollars in initial funding from the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
For years, Israel promoted spyware firms, most famously NSO, as part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “cyber diplomacy.” However, after NSO was added to the U.S. entity list over two years ago, sparking a crisis between the U.S. and Israel, Jerusalem changed course and started blocking the sales of spyware to non-Western countries.
A Haaretz investigation published last summer revealed Intellexa was picking up all the deals Israel had refused to authorize – selling their digital surveillance wares to countries like Ukraine or even a notorious militia in Sudan. Simultaneously, sources and forensic findings suggested that alongside countries in which Israeli firms were once allowed to work – such as Mexico, Ghana, Colombia and Greece – Dilian-linked firms have also inked deals with clients in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.