The head of Microsoft's Israeli subsidiary, Alon Haimovich, will step down following an internal inquiry into the company's dealings with the Israeli military. The inquiry was launched after a Guardian investigation revealed that the military's Unit 8200 used Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to store intercepted Palestinian phone calls on a mass scale.
The investigation, conducted jointly with +972 Magazine and Local Call, found that Unit 8200 used Azure's storage and computing power to build a system for collecting, playing back, and analysing millions of Palestinian cellular phone calls daily. Microsoft concluded that Unit 8200 had violated its terms of service, which prohibit mass surveillance, and terminated the unit's access to cloud services and AI products.
The inquiry, involving lawyers from Covington & Burling, is understood to have concluded recently. Sources say its findings prompted Haimovich's departure, along with several other managers. The Israeli business newspaper Globes reported that the departures followed violations of Microsoft's code of ethics.
Documents suggest Haimovich played a role in developing the relationship between Microsoft Israel and Unit 8200 after a 2021 meeting between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the unit's commander. This included overseeing a partnership to build a segregated area within Azure for sensitive intelligence material.
Microsoft has stated that senior executives like Nadella were unaware of the surveillance use. Brad Smith, Microsoft's vice-chair and president, said last year: 'We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians.' Haimovich did not respond to a request for comment but told staff he had positioned Israel as 'one of Microsoft's fastest-growing markets worldwide.'
