Imagine discovering that the phones of your country’s top leaders, including the Prime Minister, were hacked using a powerful spyware tool—and then watching the investigation into this shocking breach grind to a halt. That’s exactly what’s happening in Spain right now, and it’s raising serious questions about international cooperation, accountability, and the limits of justice in the digital age.
Spain’s highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, has once again shelved its investigation into the use of Pegasus spyware—a tool developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group—to target the mobile phones of senior Spanish ministers. The court’s decision, announced by Judge José Luis Calama, cites a persistent lack of cooperation from Israeli authorities, which has undermined the “principle of good faith” expected between nations. But here’s where it gets controversial: Is Israel deliberately obstructing justice, or is this a case of bureaucratic red tape gone awry?
The saga began in May 2022, when the Spanish government revealed that the phones of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Defense Minister Margarita Robles had been infected with Pegasus in 2021. According to NSO Group, this spyware is exclusively sold to state agencies. Later, it emerged that the Interior Minister and Agriculture Minister had also been targeted. These revelations led to the dismissal of Spain’s spy chief, Paz Esteban, and an admission of “shortcomings” within the country’s intelligence agency, the CNI.
Judge Calama initially closed the investigation in July 2023 but reopened it months later after French authorities shared information about Pegasus being used to target French ministers, lawmakers, lawyers, and journalists. However, in this week’s ruling, the judge stated that the French data provided no new leads to identify who specifically targeted the Spanish politicians. And this is the part most people miss: Without cooperation from Israel, the investigation remains at a standstill, leaving Spain’s leaders—and its citizens—without answers.
Calama expressed frustration over Israel’s repeated failure to respond to his inquiries, including a request to question NSO’s CEO. He argued that Israel’s inaction violates two international legal agreements it has signed, disrupting the balance of international cooperation. The judge’s words are stark: the case will remain dormant until Israel complies with requests for information or new evidence emerges—a scenario he deems unlikely.
NSO Group, for its part, has publicly condemned the misuse of its technology, stating that targeting politicians, dissidents, activists, and journalists is a “severe misuse” of its tools. The company claims it does not operate the technology or access the collected data, and it pledges to investigate any suspected misuse. However, critics argue that NSO’s hands-off approach raises questions about accountability. If the company can’t—or won’t—track how its tools are used, who is truly responsible when they’re weaponized against democratic institutions?
This isn’t the first time Pegasus has made headlines. In 2020, a joint investigation by The Guardian and El País revealed that senior Catalan pro-independence politicians were warned their phones had been targeted. Two years later, cybersecurity experts at Citizen Lab identified at least 63 individuals linked to the Catalan independence movement whose devices were targeted or infected between 2017 and 2020. Shockingly, 18 of these activists were spied on legally, with judicial approval from Spain’s CNI. Does this blur the line between national security and political surveillance?
As the dust settles on Spain’s stalled investigation, one question lingers: In an era of advanced cyber tools, how can nations ensure transparency and accountability when those tools are turned against them? And what does it say about international relations when cooperation falters at the highest levels? We’d love to hear your thoughts—do you think Israel is deliberately obstructing justice, or is this a complex case of jurisdictional challenges? Let us know in the comments below.
