From product demonstrations at a secret villa in Rabat to training sessions at NSO’s Herzliya headquarters, Forbidden Stories and its partners retrace the early stages of Morocco’s use of Pegasus.

Trailing targets, monitoring internet cafes, deploying spyware: Morocco has mobilized a massive arsenal of surveillance tools against journalists and dissidents in recent years.

However, new evidence reviewed by the consortium confirms “traces of compromise” by Pegasus on the phones of seven members of the government at the time: Jean-Michel Blanquer, Jacqueline Gourault, Julien Denormandie, Emmanuelle Wargon, François de Rugy, Florence Parly and Lecornu.
The minister also did not recall the details of her meeting with Benny Gantz, the Israeli minister of defense, who, according to NSO co-founder Shalev Hulio, handed her a report certifying that no French political figure had been targeted by Pegasus.