Israel Uses Microsoft’s Cloud for Mass Surveillance of Palestinian Phone Calls

In late 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella met with Yossi Sariel, commander of Israel’s military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, to discuss moving large amounts of classified data to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. By 2022, this collaboration enabled Unit 8200 to create a massive surveillance system storing millions of phone calls made by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This platform, with its immense storage capacity, was used to monitor and record communications on a vast scale, capturing phone calls that were later analyzed for intelligence purposes. The project came under scrutiny after leaked documents revealed that the data stored in Microsoft’s European data centers might have been used to assist military operations, including airstrikes. Despite Microsoft’s denial of knowing the exact data being stored, intelligence officers confirmed that the system helped identify bombing targets and led to increased civilian casualties in Gaza. The relationship between Microsoft and Israel has raised ethical questions, especially as the company faces internal pressure regarding its role in military operations. Microsoft has stated that its collaboration with Unit 8200 focused on cybersecurity, but the scale of the surveillance system raises concerns about privacy and the surveillance of civilians.