Could Pegasus Gate have been prevented? The evolution of the export control regime for cyber-surveillance tools in Israel

The subject of this article is a discussion of the legal provisions governing the Israeli and international legal systems governing the control of trade in cyber-surveillance tools. A detailed analysis of the current regulations is carried out with a view to classification and pointing out imperfections in the content of the current regulations. The author identifies the transformations in the content of the Wassenaar Arrangement, which resulted in an attempt to regulate this matter more comprehensively in Israeli law in 2016. Using the impact of the international NSO software scandal as an example, the role that an effective export control regime, including international regulation, plays in preventing cyber-surveillance tools from being used in ways that are dangerous to internationally recognized values is demonstrated.