Microsoft has cut off the Israel\u00a0Ministry of Defense\u2019s access to some of\u00a0its tech\u00a0and services after an\u00a0internal\u00a0investigation found the\u00a0organization\u00a0appeared to\u00a0be using its\u00a0tech to\u00a0store\u00a0surveillance data on\u00a0phone calls made by Palestinians.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The tech giant announced on Thursday that it\u00a0made the decision to \u201ccease and disable\u201d\u00a0certain subscriptions from the Israeli military. This affects subscriptions to\u00a0Azure cloud storage\u00a0and certain AI services.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not provide technology to\u00a0facilitate\u00a0mass surveillance of civilians,\u201d Microsoft vice chair and\u00a0president\u00a0Brad Smith wrote in a\u00a0blog post<\/a>. \u201cWe have applied this principle in every country around the world, and we have insisted on it repeatedly for more than two decades. This is why we explained publicly on August 15 that Microsoft\u2019s standard terms of service prohibit the use of our technology for mass surveillance of civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n Microsoft informed Israel of its decision last week, according to\u00a0The Guardian<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The decision follows Microsoft\u2019s\u00a0ongoing\u00a0review\u00a0of the matter,\u00a0which started in August. The investigation\u00a0was sparked by a story in\u00a0The Guardian<\/a>\u00a0that reported that Unit 8200, the elite Israel military intelligence unit, was\u00a0using Azure cloud storage to\u00a0house\u00a0data on phone calls\u00a0obtained through the surveillance of\u00a0Palestinians\u00a0in Gaza and the West Bank.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In his blog post, Smith also said the company appreciated The Guardian\u2019s\u00a0initial\u00a0reporting. Smith wrote that without it, they\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0have known to\u00a0look into\u00a0the matter, as\u00a0due to customer privacy\u00a0rights,\u00a0they\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0access a customer\u2019s content.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs employees, we all have a shared interest in privacy protection, given the business value it creates by ensuring our customers can rely on our services with rock solid trust,\u201d\u00a0Smith wrote.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco The company said the review is ongoing but declined to comment to TechCrunch\u00a0regarding\u00a0what was still under review.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Microsoft has been under fire from both employees and outsiders for its involvement with Israel over the past year.\u00a0Protests regarding\u00a0Microsoft\u2019s relationship with Israel<\/a>\u00a0broke out\u00a0at the company\u2019s\u00a050th\u00a0anniversary celebration in April.\u00a0In August, several employees\u00a0staged a sit-in<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0Smith\u2019s office, forcing a lockdown.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 27-29, 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n