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In public, the company has announced its staggering growth with a steady cadence of news releases. But in classified American intelligence channels, there have been more concerning reports about the company. and other American spy agencies have issued warnings about G42’s work with large Chinese companies that U.S. officials consider security threats, including Huawei, the telecommunications giant that is under U.S. sanctions. U.S. officials fear G42 could be a conduit by which advanced American technology is siphoned to Chinese companies or the government. The intelligence reports have also warned that G42’s dealings with Chinese firms could be a pipeline to get the genetic data of millions of Americans and others into the hands of the Chinese government, according to two officials familiar with the reports.

Persons: Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Jake Sullivan Organizations: United Arab, White House, AstraZeneca, OpenAI, Huawei Locations: United Arab Emirates, China, Silicon, U.S

But Hamas’s attack exposed the fragility of that technology. The group used explosive drones that damaged the cellular antennas and the remote firing systems that protected the fence between Gaza and Israel. To get around Israel’s powerful surveillance technology, Hamas fighters also appeared to enforce strict discipline among the group’s ranks to not discuss its activities on mobile phones. This allowed them to pull off the attack without detection, one European official said. The group most likely divided its fighters into smaller cells, each probably only trained for a specific objective.

Persons: — Locations: Israel, Gaza

Since the war began, Saudi officials have returned to specific calls for a substantive Israeli-Palestinian peace process and for the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Despite the escalating violence, it appears that American and Saudi officials are holding on to hopes of a normalization deal with Israel. Senators said they left Riyadh with the impression that Saudi leaders would still like to recognize Israel when the right moment arrives. Prince Mohammed launched a disastrous Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen in 2015 aiming to oust the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who nonetheless remain firmly in power there. It merely said that, although tensions persisted between Israel and the Palestinians, the Biden administration had “de-escalated crises in Gaza.”

Persons: Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Jordan —, Prince Mohammed, Houthi, Blumenthal, Israel “, Mr, Biden “, Jake Sullivan, “, Sullivan, Biden, ” Organizations: Saudi, Israel, Senators, State Department, U.S ., U.S, Foreign Affairs Locations: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian, Jerusalem, Saudi, Riyadh, Yemen, East, Washington, U.S, United States, Gaza

Under such an agreement, the United States and Saudi Arabia would generally pledge to provide military support if the other country is attacked in the region or on Saudi territory. The discussions to model the terms after the treaties in East Asia, considered among the strongest the United States has outside of its European pacts, have not been previously reported. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, regards a mutual defense agreement with the United States as the most important element in his talks with the Biden administration about Israel, current and former U.S. officials said. Saudi officials say a strong defense agreement would help deter potential assaults by Iran or its armed partners even as the two regional rivals re-establish diplomatic ties. Prince Mohammed is also asking the Biden administration to help his country develop a civilian nuclear program, which some U.S. officials fear could be cover for a nuclear weapons program to counter Iran.

Persons: Biden’s, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Biden, Prince Mohammed Organizations: Saudi, United Locations: United States, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Saudi, East Asia, Iran

To broker a new diplomatic pact between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the White House would need to persuade two historic adversaries to find common ground on thorny issues like nuclear enrichment, weapons sales and the territorial rights of Palestinians. Then, the administration would face what could be an even more daunting challenge: getting 67 senators to go along with it. With that challenge in mind, White House officials have been holding meetings on Capitol Hill in recent weeks with a small but influential group of Democratic senators, updating them on the details of ongoing diplomatic negotiations with Israeli and Saudi leaders. It is part of an ongoing effort to quietly build support for any Senate vote that would be needed to cement a potential pact. The exact terms of the relationship are still being discussed, but any new treaty with Saudi Arabia would require support from two-thirds of the Senate — a difficult hurdle to clear for any issue.

Persons: Mohammed bin Salman Organizations: Capitol, Democratic, Saudi Locations: Israel, Saudi Arabia, United States

uncovered at least part of the answer: It was the F.B.I. The deal for the surveillance tool between the contractor, Riva Networks, and NSO was completed in November 2021. This particular tool, known as Landmark, allowed government officials to track people in Mexico without their knowledge or consent. now says that it used the tool unwittingly and that Riva Networks misled the bureau. Once the agency discovered in late April that Riva had used the spying tool on its behalf, Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I.

Persons: Biden, Riva, Christopher A, Wray Organizations: New York Times, NSO, U.S ., White, Riva Networks, Commerce Department Locations: Mexico

☆ U.S. Blacklists Two Spyware Firms Run by an Israeli Former General
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Mark Mazzetti | More About Mark Mazzetti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration added two Europe-based hacking firms controlled by an Israeli former general to a Commerce Department blacklist on Tuesday, its latest effort to try to rein in a spyware industry that has spiraled out of control in recent years. The two firms, Intellexa and Cytrox, are at the center of a political scandal in Greece, where government officials have been accused of using their hacking tools against journalists and political opponents. Under the terms of the blacklist, American companies are largely prohibited from doing business with the designated firms, a move designed to starve them of the U.S. technology — such as servers and cloud storage — they need to continue operations. In November 2021, the White House blacklisted the Israeli firm NSO Group, the most well-known purveyor of hacking tools. Both Intellexa and Cytrox are controlled by Tal Dilian, a former general in the Israeli military intelligence who was forced to retire from the Israeli Defense Forces in 2003 after an internal investigation raised suspicions that he had been involved in funds mismanagement, according to three former senior officers in the Israeli military.

Persons: Biden, Tal Dilian Organizations: Commerce Department, Intellexa, White House, NSO Group, Israeli Defense Forces Locations: Europe, Greece, U.S

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