Microsoft announced that it will block Israel’s Unit 8200 of the IDF Intelligence Corps from accessing its Azure cloud services and will conduct an external review of its military collaboration, according to The Guardian.
The move follows an investigation revealing that Unit 8200 used Microsoft’s cloud to store, process, and analyze millions of phone calls from Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
According to the report, since 2022, Unit 8200 had uploaded extensive databases of Palestinian Arab phone calls to Microsoft’s cloud, as part of a project approved during a meeting the previous year between the unit’s commander and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Documents indicate that the system could process up to one million calls per hour, with the data stored on Microsoft servers in Europe. The information was reportedly used by the IDF for operational purposes, including arrests and targeting strikes.
The report also notes that Microsoft personnel and Unit 8200 engineers collaborated to build a system capable of scanning tens of millions of voice recordings and automatically classifying them.
In an internal message to employees, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote, “We will not assist in mass surveillance of civilians.”
The company said it has launched an external investigation into the matter and has suspended Unit 8200’s access to certain services.
However, Microsoft’s cybersecurity services in Israel and the region will continue to operate as usual.
