Some of the most frequently downloaded Apple and Google apps were developed by Israeli spies and war criminals, generating billions in revenue for the apartheid economy.<\/p>\n
This article was originally published by\u00a0\u00a1Do Not Panic!<\/a><\/p>\n The developers behind hundreds of Android and iPhone apps with billions of downloads are former Israeli spies whose apps are generating significant revenues for Israel\u2019s genocidal war economy.<\/p>\n The apps I\u2019ve identified range from innocuous image and video editing apps to casual games, and most users won\u2019t be aware they\u2019re installing Israeli products on their phones. Many of these app developers operate under the radar, their ownership structures are opaque and the identity of their owners isn\u2019t commonly known.<\/p>\n The identification of these apps should add another frontier to the boycott, divest, sanctions movement, as it provides a straightforward way for ordinary people to avoid Israeli products that contribute to apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n The proliferation of these apps on Apple\u2019s App Store and the Google Play Store also raises questions over privacy and the harvesting of personal data, given the reputation of Israeli technology and past scandals involving\u00a0spyware being smuggled onto devices<\/a>\u00a0by apps made in Israel.<\/p>\n One of the most significant Israeli app holding companies and developers is\u00a0ZipoApps<\/a>, whose model is to buy-out and monetise apps at a large scale. The apps owned by Zipo (which also goes by the name Rounds.com) include a\u00a0suite of photo and video editing apps<\/a>\u00a0that have received hundreds of millions of total installs. Individual apps include Collage Maker Photo Editor and Instasquare Photo Editor: Neon, both of which have received more than 50 million downloads from the Google Play Store. Other ZipoApps products include baby photo editing and retouching tools. In 2022, the founder and CEO of Zipo, Gal Avidor,\u00a0told an interviewer<\/a>\u00a0(in his only interview to date), that all the founders of the company are former Unit 8200 Israeli intelligence personnel. On Reddit,\u00a0users have complained<\/a>\u00a0about ZipoApps approach to privacy and data mining. One popular group of tools known as Simple Gallery went from free and open source to a paid product with ads and trackers just one week after ZipoApps acquired it.<\/p>\n Another Israeli-owned photo editing app on the Play Store is the\u00a0AI-powered Bazaart<\/a>, which was founded by Dror Yaffe and Stas Goferman, two former IDF intelligence officers.\u00a0Goferman<\/a>\u00a0far exceeded his mandatory service, spending a decade in the IDF up to 2011.<\/p>\n Facetune<\/a>, made by the developer Lightricks and available for Android and iPhones, is another Israeli photo editing app with over 50 million installs. Users on the Apple Store have called Facetune, which demands access to unique identifiers and your location,\u00a0a scam.<\/a>\u00a0The co-founder of Lightricks, Yaron Inger,\u00a0spent five years in Unit 8200.<\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019re into mobile gaming, or if you create mobile games to sell, you will have come across Israeli company\u00a0Supersonic from Unity<\/a>, probably without knowing it. With billions of downloads in recent years, Supersonic is one of the largest mobile game publishers in the world with\u00a0revenues estimated at around $23 million<\/a>\u00a0per year. Earlier this year the company reported that they owned three of the top ten most downloaded casual player mobile games in the world: Build a Queen, Going Balls, and Bridge Race. Trash Tycoon is another popular title. The company also has a game called\u00a0\u2018Conquer Countries\u2019<\/a>\u00a0which has been downloaded millions of times and on its advertising tile features a cartoon version of Donald Trump. The founder of Supersonic,\u00a0Nadav Ashkenazy, spent seven and a half years in the IDF<\/a>\u00a0where he rose to become the head of operations for the Israeli air force, managing almost half the full-time staff. You can see all Supersonic\u2019s games\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n A better-known Israeli mobile game app maker whose revenues we don\u2019t have to estimate is Playtika. Listed on the NASDAQ, Playtika brings in revenues of\u00a0more than $2.5 billion<\/a>, generating significant taxes for Israel\u2019s mass slaughter machine. Playtika, which builds gambling apps, is firmly enmeshed in the genocidal Israeli war machine. The company was founded by Uri Shahak, son of the former head of the IDF, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, and last year its annual report revealed that 14% of its staff\u00a0had been called up<\/a>\u00a0as reservists to participate in the genocide in Gaza. Current CEO Robert Antokol\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0the company has a \u201cresponsibility\u201d to Israel and the taxes paid by its staff are \u201cwonderful for the Israeli economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Another Israeli company whose apps have been downloaded billions of times is Crazy Labs. With an estimated company value of around $1 billion and sales estimated at up to $200 million, Crazy Labs is another app maker integral to the Israeli economy. Its best-selling titles are Phone Case DIY, Miraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir, and Sculpt People. You can see\u00a0the full list of the Crazy Lab apps<\/a>\u00a0on the Google Play Store. The founders of Crazy Labs are all ex-IDF, including\u00a0Sagi Schliesser, who well exceeded his mandatory service<\/a>\u00a0by staying in the IDF and helping build the digital architecture of apartheid for eight years.<\/p>\n An app you may have heard of, but not have known is Israeli, is\u00a0Moovit.<\/a> The urban transport app was founded by a number of ex-IDF soldiers, including Nir Erez<\/a>, who spent years at the IDF\u2019s specialist computing centre known as Mamram<\/a>, which Israeli propaganda says creates \u2018cyber warriors.\u2019 As the unit which runs the military\u2019s intranet, Mamram is central to Israel\u2019s genocide of Gaza. Moovit, which has close to one billion users and delivers significant revenues to Israel, has been an official partner of the Olympic Games, the European football championships and also partners with Microsoft.<\/p>\n With hundreds of millions of installs,\u00a0Call App,\u00a0<\/a>which screens phone calls for spam, is another product of Israel\u2019s military economy. The founder and CEO of Call App,\u00a0Amit On<\/a>, spent three years in Unit 8200 in the 2000s. The app has over 100 million users.<\/p>\n