The general manager of Microsoft Israel, Alon Haimovich, has left his role following an investigation into the regional branch’s contracts with the Israeli Defense Forces’ intelligence units.
According to a report by Globes, Microsoft’s global management launched the investigation because they were concerned that the company’s code of ethics had been breached by the branch’s work with the IDF. While Microsoft have not revealed the results of the investigation they announced in August, Globes reports that it is behind Haimovich’s exit from the company, along with several other senior members of Microsoft Israel’s governance department.
In January last year, The Guardian and +972 Magazine reported that Unit 8200, a surveillance division within the IDF, had developed technology used to track Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza which recorded their positions and phone calls. This technology was allegedly used to create a database of potential targets for lethal strikes. While the Israeli government have a contract with Amazon and Google to build datacentre infrastructure within the country, Microsoft are not a partner in the Nimbus project, which means that data collected by the IDF intelligence units would be stored on Azure servers located in Europe, opening Microsoft up to greater regulatory scrutiny.
Nine months after The Guardian and +972 Magazine’s reporting, significant protests within Microsoft and a growing boycott against their products, led Microsoft to cancel their contract with Unit 8200. However, they did not unilaterally cancel their work with the IDF. According to Globes, the Microsoft investigation into the Israel branch’s contracts revealed that Unit 8200 were not the only unit that violated Microsoft’s terms of use. In their words, it was just the “tip of the iceberg”.
Microsoft have not announced the termination of any other contracts with the IDF and, for now, the Israel branch of their offices is being managed by Microsoft France. Though, Globes reports that IDF units have already transferred a significant part of their cloud infrastructure to the datacentres constructed by Amazon and Google within Israel’s borders, where they face less international oversight.
The existence of this investigation into Microsoft Israel’s dealings with the IDF is in part a result of the protests and boycotts that have been mounted against the corporation since last year. However, as Edwin has reported extensively, Microsoft workers taking part in the boycott and campaign against the corporation’s work with the IDF have faced what they’ve described as “a culture of intimidation, retaliation, and oppression”. Damage which won’t be undone because of Haimovich’s exit.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
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