A Spanish high court has terminated, for the second time, its investigation into the Pegasus spyware attacks that targeted the mobile phones of the country’s top officials. The presiding judge cited a persistent and obstructive lack of cooperation from Israeli authorities as the reason for shelving the case.
The inquiry was launched after it was confirmed in 2022 that the phones of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Defense Minister Margarita Robles had been compromised by the sophisticated surveillance tool the previous year. The breach was later found to have extended to the interior and agriculture ministers. The spyware, developed by Israel’s NSO Group, is marketed exclusively to government agencies.
In his ruling, Judge José Luis Calama of the Audiencia Nacional stated that Israel’s repeated failure to respond to international legal requests for information had made it impossible to identify those responsible. He emphasized that this stance violated international agreements and undermined the fundamental principle of good faith between nations.
The scandal previously led to the dismissal of Spain’s intelligence chief and admissions of serious failings within the National Intelligence Centre (CNI).
Judge Calama had initially closed the case in mid-2023 but reopened it months later following new information from French authorities regarding Pegasus use in France. However, this material ultimately provided no new leads specific to the Spanish incidents.
Without critical data from Israel, including the potential testimony of NSO’s leadership, the judge concluded the investigation could not proceed. The case will remain inactive unless Israel unexpectedly complies or new evidence emerges independently.
This development marks another setback in efforts to hold users of the controversial spyware to account. Previous reports have also linked Pegasus to surveillance campaigns against Catalan separatist politicians and activists, with some of that activity later confirmed to have been conducted under judicial authorization by Spanish intelligence.