Executive Chairman of NSO Group Asher Levi resigned from his position at the cyber surveillance firm on Tuesday.
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Earlier in the week, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit ordered an investigation into the Israel Police's alleged use of NSO surveillance technology against civilians without authorization.
It is unclear whether NSO's now-infamous Pegasus spyware was used or if another software was employed.
Nevertheless, Levi said his resignation was unrelated to the recent reports. He explained he had been appointed by Novalpina Capital – a venture capital fund that had acquired NSO – but the company has since been purchased by Berkeley Research Group, prompting a decision to appoint a new chairman.
"Despite reports in the last few hours with regard to my position as executive chairman, I would like to clarify that there is no connection between the end of my term and the latest reports about NSO," Levi said. "Novalpina Capital brought me in in April 2020. About five months later it was replaced by BRG, and as expected from a senior official, I turned to the new fund asking them to appoint a representative of their own."
According to allegations against NSO, police monitored the leaders of a protest movement against then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mayors, and other citizens without court approval. But Mendelblit said many questions remained unanswered, and that he was forming an investigative committee headed by a top deputy.
The police have dismissed the report as inaccurate and said they only operate according to the law. But the publication drew an outcry from lawmakers and prompted multiple investigations by various Israeli authorities.
NSO has faced mounting scrutiny over its Pegasus software, which has been linked to snooping on human rights activists, journalists, and politicians across the globe. In November, the US Commerce Department blacklisted the spyware company, barring it from using certain US technologies, saying its tools had been used to "conduct translational repression."
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