After Anti-Genocide Protests, Microsoft Cuts Israeli Military Off From Cloud Services

After multiple exposés and international protests about Microsoft's "genocidal collaboration" with the Israel Defense Forces, the tech giant told employees on Thursday that it cut the IDF off from certain cloud storage and artificial intelligence technology.

Microsoft launched a review last month, after The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call reported that the IDF's Unit 8200 was using the cloud platform Azure to store data from "millions of mobile phone calls made each day by Palestinians" in the illegally occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have killed at least tens of thousands of people over the past two years.

"We have reviewed The Guardian's allegations based on two principles, both grounded in Microsoft's longstanding protection of privacy as a fundamental right," Brad Smith, the company's vice chair and president, wrote to employees. "First, we do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians... Second, we respect and protect the privacy rights of our customers."

"While our review is ongoing, we have found evidence that supports elements of The Guardian's reporting," he continued. Thus, Microsoft has informed Israel's Ministry of Defense (IMOD) of its "decision to cease and disable specified IMOD subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies."

"I want to note our appreciation for the reporting of The Guardian," he added. "I'll share more information in the coming days and weeks, when it's appropriate to do so, including lessons learned from this review and how we will apply those lessons as we go forward."

The newspaper reported Thursday that, according to a document it obtained, a senior Microsoft executive similarly told IMOD late last week that the company "is not in the business of facilitating the mass surveillance of civilians" and "while our review is ongoing, we have at this juncture identified evidence that supports elements of The Guardian's reporting."

As The Guardian noted:

The termination is the first known case of a US technology company withdrawing services provided to the Israeli military since the beginning of its war on Gaza.

The decision has not affected Microsoft's wider commercial relationship with the IDF, which is a longstanding client and will retain access to other services.

The outlets involved in the August 6 reporting—and others, including The Associated Press and Drop Site News—have reported on Microsoft's relationship with the Israeli military throughout the year.

Drop Site's Ryan Grim highlighted that the company's decision is "a major victory for dissident Microsoft workers, who have been protesting intensely internally."

Microsoft employees have protested the company's ties to Israel since even before this year's reporting. For example, the "No Azure for Apartheid" petition was written by workers and shared internally in May 2024, to mark the 76th year of the Nakba—which means catastrophe in Arabic and is used to describe the ethnic cleansing of Palestine to establish the modern state of Israel.

No Azure for Apartheid on Thursday called the announcement "an unprecedented win" that "has only been possible because of the sustained pressure by our campaign," but also emphasized that "this action is insufficient."

"Today, on the 719th day of the genocide, the Israeli military, armed with Microsoft technology, is intensifying its genocidal campaign by invading Gaza City, forcibly starving more than 2 million Palestinians, and expanding ethnic cleansing in the West Bank," the campaign said. "By choosing to maintain this deep partnership with the Israeli military, Microsoft insists on continuing to serve as the technological backbone to the ongoing genocide and apartheid. At a time when countries around the globe are imposing arms embargoes on the Israeli military, our demand for a digital arms embargo has never been more critical."

Last month, seven current and former Microsoft workers were arrested after occupying Smith's office in Redmond, Washington, to protest the company's complicity in "the first AI-powered genocide." According to No Azure for Apartheid, the company has fired five employees following protests at its headquarters.

There have also been actions by critics outside Microsoft, including an August demonstration at a data center in the Netherlands.

Sabrene Odeh, community legal advocate at the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA), said in a Thursday statement that "though a step in the right direction, this is not enough to end Microsoft's complicity in the genocide perpetrated by Israel. Tech workers, across the board, have been sounding the alarm for two years with serious concerns over how technology is being used against civilians."

"If Microsoft is ready to end its complicity," Odeh continued, "it must listen to the brave tech workers in its base—who have been discriminated against, let go, and even quit their jobs because they no longer can be accomplices to the crimes Israel is committing—and end all ties with Israel."

CAIR-WA executive director Imraan Siddiqi stressed that it's not just Microsoft, arguing that "all tech companies must completely divest from their activities supporting the ongoing genocide of Palestinians and ensure that their employees who speak up against human rights abuses are protected."

This article has been updated with comment from No Azure for Apartheid.