Microsoft sacks Israel subsidiary boss over using its cloud to store spying data

Microsoft has ousted the head of its Israel subsidiary reportedly over the unethical use of its Azure cloud service by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Microsoft’s Israel general manager, Alon Haimovich, who had held the position for 4 years, announced his departure last week without providing an explanation.

Israeli media reports that Haimovich was summoned by an investigative team led by Microsoft’s global management in recent weeks.

The American tech giant initiated a review of its partnership with Israel Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 8200 last year following the reports that Azure software was used to store recordings of millions of mobile phone calls of Palestinians.

While the internal investigation’s findings are unclear, sources say they prompted Haimovich's departure, followed by the resignations of several other managers.

In September 2025, Microsoft revoked Unit 8200’s access to cloud services but continued to work with other Israeli military units.

In a letter to the Israeli Defense Ministry, seen by the Guardian, Microsoft said it wasn’t “in the business of facilitating the mass surveillance of civilians.”

The joint investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian, which sparked the internal review, reveals that Unit 8200 transferred audio files of millions of calls by Palestinians living in the occupied territories onto Azure.

The report describes it as likely “one of the world’s largest and most intrusive collections of surveillance data over a single population group.”

The cloud-based storage platform reportedly facilitated the preparation of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and arrests of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

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