Microsoft Disables Some Cloud Services Used by Israel’s Defense Ministry
Software company found ministry used the services to surveil Gaza citizens
Updated Sept. 25, 2025 4:00 pm ET
The company’s probe began after an August report alleged Israel used Azure to store data and surveil Gaza civilians.
- Microsoft disabled some services for Israel’s Defense Ministry after finding evidence of cloud service misuse for Gaza surveillance.
Microsoft has disabled the Israeli Defense Ministry’s access to certain services and subscriptions, after finding evidence that the ministry used the tech company’s cloud services to surveil Gaza citizens.
The software company made the move after an internal investigation indicated Israel’s Defense Ministry violated Microsoft’s terms of service by using its Azure cloud services for surveillance, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company probe is ongoing.
“As 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,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a blog post Thursday on Microsoft’s company website.
Smith said Microsoft’s investigation was guided by the company’s “longstanding protection of privacy as a fundamental right.”
Microsoft opened the probe after the Guardian, the British news organization, reported in August that Israel used Azure to store data on Gaza civilians and surveil them. The issue has been the source of protests at the company.
A spokeswoman for the Israel’s Defense Ministry declined to comment. The prime minister’s office and the Israeli military didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft has provided a range of cloud-computing services to Israel, including Azure data storage, networking and analytics tools. The Israeli military has used Microsoft for email, file management and other work.
Smith said in his blog post that the company would continue to support Israel’s cybersecurity efforts.
Israel used Azure to store data on millions of mobile phone calls by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and helped facilitate military action there, the Guardian reported last month.
Microsoft’s findings from its investigation are focused on a company data center in the Netherlands that has stored data from Israel’s Defense Ministry, Smith said in his blog post.
For months, Microsoft has been looking into Israel’s use of the company’s technology after facing public criticism over the relationship. Microsoft initially said it hadn’t found evidence indicating Israel was using its cloud services to harm people.
The company looked into the matter again following the Guardian article. Law firm Covington & Burling, Smith’s former employer and a longtime Microsoft legal resource, has been investigating the matter.
The company, which shared few details of its findings, said its policies prohibit its technology’s use to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians. It said it had found evidence that “elements of the Guardian’s reporting” were true.
Current and former employees have criticized the company’s relationship with Israel. Organizers have disrupted company conferences by shouting during keynote speeches and hung Palestinian flags and banners around the Microsoft corporate campus in Redmond, Wash.
In May, Microsoft fired software engineer Joe Lopez after he interrupted a speech by Chief Executive Satya Nadella at the company’s annual Build developer conference.
“Satya, how about you show how Microsoft is killing Palestinians,” Lopez yelled inside a full Seattle conference hall as Nadella was starting his keynote speech.
Microsoft workers were among a group of protesters that, on Aug. 26, entered Smith’s office and hung banners in protest of the company’s cloud-computing contract with the Israeli government.
The company fired five employees following the incident. It has also shut down an internal communication channel used by employees to question senior executives and discuss hot-button issues.
Microsoft is now giving priority to presubmitted questions in town-hall meetings as the primary way for employees to engage with senior leaders, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.
Write to Sebastian Herrera at sebastian.herrera@wsj.com
Microsoft disabled some services for Israel’s Defense Ministry after finding evidence of cloud service misuse for Gaza surveillance.
An internal investigation by Microsoft indicated the use of Azure cloud services for surveillance of Gaza citizens.