Microsoft disables services for Israeli military

(Patria) - Microsoft announced that it has disabled a suite of cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) services used by a unit within the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) after an internal audit found preliminary evidence supporting media reports about a surveillance system in Gaza and the West Bank, Reuters reported.

Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, said the company launched the audit following an article in The Guardian alleging the activity of an Israeli Defense Forces unit.

A joint investigation published in early August by The Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian +972 Magazine, and the Hebrew website Local Call reported that an Israeli military surveillance agency used Microsoft Azure to store large amounts of mobile phone call recordings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The Guardian's investigation states that Israel relied on Microsoft's cloud for extensive surveillance of Palestinians.

While the audit is ongoing, Microsoft stated it found evidence supporting elements of The Guardian's reporting, including details about IMOD's consumption of Azure data storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services.

"We do not provide technology to facilitate mass civilian surveillance," Smith said on Microsoft's blog.
Microsoft informed the Israeli Ministry of Defense of its "decision to terminate and disable certain IMOD subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies".

Smith said this action does not affect Microsoft's cybersecurity services to Israel and other Middle Eastern countries.

At the end of August, Microsoft fired four employees who participated in protests at the company's premises over its ties to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza, including two who joined a sit-in protest in the company president's office.

Microsoft stated that the dismissals followed serious violations of company policies and that the on-site demonstrations "created significant security concerns".