Israel Refuses to Extradite Tomas Zeron, Mexican Official linked to Missing Students Investigation & NSO Spyware Deal

Israel is refusing to extradite a former senior Mexican federal prosecutor who is wanted in his own country and is also linked to alleged misuse of NSO Group’s spyware, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing a senior Israeli official. Tomas Zeron De Lucio is wanted in Mexico on suspicion of falsifying evidence and torturing witnesses, however, his whereabouts were not known until the Mexican foreign minister said last year that he was hiding in Israel.

Zeron is suspected of skewing an investigation into the abduction and murder of 43 students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in 2014. He is also wanted for questioning about abuses of the Pegasus spyware program, made by the Israel-based NSO. On Thursday, the New York Times reported that a senior Israeli official told them that due to Mexico’s support for Palestinians, Jerusalem was using “tit-for-tat diplomacy” against it and would not extradite Zeron.

Mexico voted in favor of a UN call to investigate allegations of potential war crimes by Israel against Palestinians. “Why would we help Mexico?” the New York Times quoted the official as saying.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard claimed a few months ago that Zeron was seeking asylum in Israel. At the time, he said that despite the lack of an extradition treaty between Israel and Mexico, it was possible to reach an agreement about Zeron specifically. He also said he believed Israel would ultimately reject the former prosecutor’s asylum request, since there is ample evidence that Mexico wants him not due to a political vendetta, but due to the crimes he is accused of committing.

For instance, a video clip posted on the web shows Zeron threatening to torture the person he is questioning if he refuses to answer investigators’ questions. The Israeli Justice Ministry said at the time it doesn’t comment on requests from other countries or on any information related to such requests unless legal proceedings have officially been opened.

Zeron, who headed his country’s criminal investigation agency under former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, was responsible for investigating and writing the official report on the students’ kidnapping and murder, which continues to cause a storm in Mexico to this day, more than six years later.