Israeli private intelligence agency Black Cube will double the office space it is leasing in Tel Aviv. "Globes" has learned that the company has leased the 19th floor in Tel Aviv's Discount Tower, in addition to the 26th floor, where it already has its offices.
Black Cube, which currently has about 200 employees, was founded by former officers in the Israeli Intelligence Service in 2010 — Avi Yanus and Dan Zorella — and specialized in business intelligence worldwide On its website the company describes itself as offering, "Specialized intelligence services for litigation, arbitration and high-profile white-collar cases." Among other things, investigations and allegations have been published about the company's involvement in various political campaigns, the most recent of which, it is alleged, was conducted in Slovenia.
Slovenia's prime minister on Tuesday accused "foreign services" of interfering in Sunday's election after a report alleged officials from Israeli private spy firm Black Cube visited the country in December and met the main opposition contender.
A group of journalists and activists from the non-governmental 8 March Institute allege that representatives of Black Cube, including its CEO Dan Zorella and adviser Giora Eiland, the former head of Israel's National Security Council, met conservative populist Janez Jansa on December 22 in Ljubljana, based on flight records and other intelligence.
Slovenia's Intelligence and Security Agency on Monday confirmed the arrival of Black Cube representatives in December but could not confirm whether they met Jansa, the leader of the opposition SDS party, which leads in polls.
In 2018 the company was accused of attempting to influence the Hungarian elections by recording NGO employees in Hungary and individuals related to Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros
The company operates from Discount Tower on Yehuda Halevi Street in Tel Aviv, where it currently rents a 1,000-square-meter floor, and has branches in London and Madrid. The company recently leased the 19th floor in the tower, to expand its operations and hire about 40 new employees, whom the company is currently recruiting.
Black Cube will pay NIS 2 million per year to lease the 19th floor, which is about NIS 167 per square meter per month, for 5 years.
Reuters, Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report