Microsoft suspends cloud services to Israeli military forces over Palestinian surveillance
Following allegations that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) was using its cloud service Azure to surveillance Palestinian civilians, Microsoft announced that it had suspended its services to certain divisions of the Israeli Ministry of Defense after conducting its own investigation.
Microsoft blocks Israel's use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians | Israel | The Guardian
Microsoft cuts cloud services to Israeli military unit over Palestinian surveillance | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/25/microsoft-cuts-cloud-services-to-israeli-military-unit-over-palestinian-surveillance/
On September 25, 2025 local time, Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith shared a message for Microsoft employees. The content of the message from Vice Chairman Smith is as follows:
Update on ongoing Microsoft review - Microsoft On the Issues
https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/09/25/update-on-ongoing-microsoft-review/
'We are pleased to announce that we have terminated a set of services and disabled functionality for certain divisions of the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD). We understand that this topic has been of great interest to many of you, and we would like to provide further details about this decision.
First, some context. As I've said frequently recently, Microsoft is a business, not a government or a country. Like all businesses, we make our own decisions about the products and services we offer.
As announced on August 15 , we have decided to investigate allegations made by The Guardian on August 6 about a unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The article stated that 'several individuals testified that the IDF was storing phone call data obtained through widespread surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank in Microsoft's Azure cloud service.'
We have taken two steps to investigate this allegation, based on Microsoft's longstanding privacy principles: We all share the importance of privacy, which is a business value that helps us earn our customers' trust.
First, we do not provide technology that enables the mass surveillance of citizens. This policy applies to every country in the world, without exception, and has been in place for over 20 years. That's why on August 15, we publicly explained that our standard terms of service prohibit the use of our technology for the mass surveillance of citizens.
Second, we respect and protect your privacy rights, which includes not giving Microsoft access to your content as part of this investigation.
Since August 15, we have conducted our investigation based on these two principles, while adhering to our internal policies, contracts, and customer commitments. Microsoft has never had access to IMOD's customer data, and our investigation has focused exclusively on Microsoft's own records, including its business records, financial statements, internal documents, emails, and messaging correspondence.
While our investigation is ongoing, we have uncovered evidence that supports some of the findings of The Guardian's report, including the fact that IMOD used AI services from Azure, a Dutch company.
As a result, we have decided to suspend and disable certain subscriptions and related services (cloud storage, AI services and technologies) and notified IMOD. We have shared this decision with IMOD and are confirming the necessary measures to prevent violations of our terms of service and to prevent the use of our services for mass surveillance of citizens.
As I stated at our recent employee meeting, this decision does not affect Microsoft's important work, including protecting cybersecurity in Israel and the Middle East, which we continue to do under the Abraham Accords .
Finally, we'd like to thank The Guardian for their reporting, which was based on external information that Microsoft was unable to access due to customer privacy concerns, and which helped inform our investigation.
We understand your concerns and questions. Our investigation is ongoing and we will continue to share details, lessons learned, and next steps in due course.
Microsoft will continue to operate with principles and ethics. We will never compromise these standards in any decision, statement or action we make.'
Microsoft has faced criticism over the past year from both employees and outsiders over its relationship with Israel. Protests over Microsoft's relationship with Israel occurred at the company's 50th anniversary celebrations in April 2025. In August, several employees staged a sit-in at Vice Chairman Smith's office, resulting in a blockade.
Protesters, including current Microsoft employees, occupied the president's office to protest the Israeli contract, and the president held an emergency press conference in the office after it was opened - GIGAZINE
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