No Israeli government involvement in alleged NSO-Whatsapp hack - minister

The Israeli government had nothing to do with an alleged cyber- hack by surveillance firm NSO Group, an Israeli security cabinet minister said on Friday.

"NSO is a private player using capabilities that Israelis have, thousands of people are in the cyber field, but there is no Israeli government involvement here, everyone understands that this is not about the state of Israel," Israeli security cabinet minister Zeev Elkin told 102.FM Tel Aviv Radio.

WhatsApp sued Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group on Tuesday, accusing it of helping government spies break into the phones of roughly 1,400 users across four continents in a hacking spree whose targets included diplomats, political dissidents, journalists, and senior government officials.