NSO appoints ex-US Ambassador David Friedman as chair

Israeli cyberattack firm NSO Group has appointed former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman as its chairman. NSO was acquired final month by a bunch of US traders headed by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds.

Friedman and the American funding crew will undertake vigorous efforts to get the corporate faraway from the US Commerce Division’s blacklist, thus making it simpler to promote programs to federal authorities, and purchase gear and software program from US corporations.

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Friedman’s appointment was made after the switch of possession of the corporate from Luxembourg-based Dufresne holdings group, owned by NSO cofounder, Omri Lavie, to the US funding group, which has injected a number of tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} into the corporate and erased money owed totaling $600 million. The corporate has careworn in a press launch, “The three cofounders of NSO not have any holding within the firm.”

Along with eradicating NSO from the blacklist, the corporate additionally hopes for a change in US and Israeli coverage on distribution of cyberattack and spyware and adware instruments, after the Biden period, which drastically restricted Israeli corporations within the area and NSO particularly. This not solely harmed enterprise outcomes and the lack of many shoppers but additionally induced a decline within the growth of latest intelligence software program and even negatively affected the intelligence image for Western and pro-Western militaries through the conflict in Israel.

Originally of 2022, Israel’s Ministry of Protection, on the request of the US, tightened circumstances for the sale cyberattack instruments and restricted them to a listing of some 30 democratic nations solely, with lots of Israel’s allies – together with the UAE and India – excluded from the checklist. This broken NSO’s enterprise efficiency and led different Israeli corporations, corresponding to Candiru or Quadream, to promote their belongings and even shut their doorways.

“Regardless of the detrimental and largely unfair criticism directed towards the corporate, you’re employed with pleasure and countless dedication to offering superior applied sciences to guard safety and save innocents,” Friedman instructed NSO’s staff this morning on the firm’s workplaces in Glilot close to Tel Aviv.

NSO mentioned it’s going to proceed to function from Israel beneath the supervision of the Ministry of Protection “Whereas increasing its international actions and striving to resume actions within the US.”

Printed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on November 9, 2025.