SAEDNEWS: Mexico has opened an official investigation into former President Enrique Peña Nieto over allegations that he took vast sums from Israeli businessmen notorious for peddling invasive spyware, deepening a scandal that exposes Tel Aviv’s corrupting influence abroad.
Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero announced Tuesday that authorities are examining claims Peña Nieto received $25 million in bribes from Avishai Neriah and Uri Ansbacher, two Israeli operatives linked to NSO Group, the maker of Pegasus spyware long condemned for targeting journalists and dissidents.
According to Israeli outlet The Marker, the money secured lucrative cybersecurity contracts for Israeli firms while granting them privileged access to Mexican state data during Peña Nieto’s six-year rule.
Spyware tools from Israel, especially Pegasus, have fueled global outrage for enabling authoritarian surveillance and repressing civil society in Mexico and beyond.
At Tuesday’s briefing, Gertz Manero admitted that past complaints lacked evidence but stressed that new records tie Peña Nieto directly to the Israeli companies.
“Since the previous administration began, various complaints were filed without sufficient evidence,” he said.
“In this new case, however, there are now very specific reports indicating a connection with the companies that sold Pegasus—including a response from the former president himself.”
The revelations exacerbate longstanding friction between Mexico and the occupying Israeli regime, whose authorities shelter criminals and sabotage accountability efforts.
Israel has refused to extradite Tomas Zeron, Mexico’s disgraced former Criminal Investigation Agency chief accused of torture and evidence tampering to conceal the enforced disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa students in 2014—a crime that horrified the world.
“Our relationship with these authorities has not been easy. We've had many problems that go back to what happened in Ayotzinapa, and there are cases that have been stalled for years,” Gertz Manero said.
Despite mounting evidence, Peña Nieto called the accusations defamatory.
“I regret coming across reports that, without the slightest journalistic rigor, make careless and malicious claims,” he posted on X.
“The report about alleged payments is completely false. It’s an insinuation entirely lacking in evidence.”
