Focus on Abin obscures Israeli connection of generals.

The focus of the political espionage scandal, centered exclusively on ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), obscures the connection between the military leadership and the Israeli government, as well as Israeli corporations in the areas of intelligence and the supply of weapons and monitoring technologies.

The revelation of an industrial-scale espionage scheme that targeted at least 30 people with its spy program. FirstMileThis appears to be just the visible tip of an even more extensive and far more threatening illegal and clandestine structure for democracy.

This secret political espionage apparatus completely escaped the control of Congress and the internal and external oversight bodies of the Executive branch. It was employed as a tool by the ruling faction to spy on and monitor political enemies and even allies.

It is perfectly understandable that ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), the Federal Police, and state civil and military police forces equip their investigation systems with monitoring devices. Provided, of course, that their use is in accordance with legal protocols and authorized by the judiciary.

It is incomprehensible, however, that the Armed Forces would use such devices, whose mission of National Defense is incompatible with the control and surveillance of citizens – except, of course, in the case of compatriots being considered “internal enemies” and subjected to the control of a police state.

While we are distracted by the war between ABIN and the Federal Police, the military once again remains unscathed, even though they have much to clarify in this regard. After all, It was the Army Command, and not ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), that was the main purchaser of the Israeli company's spy software program..

According to a survey on the Transparency Portal of payments made to Cognite Between 2014 and 2023, of the R$127,6 million [nominal values, not updated] paid to the Israeli company, R$82,5 million originated from the Army Command, and R$6,5 million from the Air Force Command, totaling R$89 million in payments by the Armed Forces.

ABIN paid R$ 14,7 million to Cognite – six times less than the Army.

The peak of sales of Cognyte do Brasil SAThe increase in revenue from the Brazilian government, which jumped from R$ 2,6 million in 2014 to R$ 113,2 million under Temer and Bolsonaro, coincides with the role of Caio Santos Cruz, son of General Santos Cruz, as the Israeli company's representative in Brazil.

A significant number of purchases were made during the federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro, commanded by General Braga Netto.

It is evident, therefore, that the Army was/is an important trading partner of CogniteWhether through direct purchases for obscure purposes, or through ABIN, also controlled by the military, and for purposes that proved to be obscure.

Many questions need to be answered.

The R$ 127,6 million spent on Cognite These are partial expenses, a small part of the Brazilian state's intelligence contracts. There are also numerous other expenses that are classified, not accessible on the Transparency Portal, in addition to others carried out with other companies in the field, mainly Israeli, but also American and European.

The Joint Committee for the Control of Intelligence Activities [CCAI] of Congress needs to thoroughly examine this reality. It is essential to dismantle the clandestine and secret ecosystem, controlled by the military, that operates in parallel and outside the law.

We need to find answers to many questions, such as:

1. which companies, in addition to Cogniteand what monitoring products, in addition to FirstMileWere they purchased by the Brazilian government?
2. Which Brazilian state agencies and institutions carried out these acquisitions?
3. What explains the Brazilian Army being, by far, the main buyer of products from...? Cognite?;
4. What use does the Army make of FirstMileHow many and which targets were monitored? Where is the data collected from Brazilians stored?
5. What is the reason for the Air Force to hire the CogniteHow are the company's products used by the Air Force?
6. What role did Army General Gerson Menandro play in relations with Israeli companies and government authorities during his time as Brazil's ambassador to Israel, from October 2020 to January 2023?

Political espionage is a serious threat to democracy. It is therefore crucial to identify and dismantle clandestine and criminal schemes – many of which are remnants of the dictatorship and are still in effect.

Given so many signs, it would be unwise not to consider the possibility that we are in a dangerous and advanced stage of restructuring a dangerous... Information Community modeled after the SNI, the National Information Service of the dictatorship.