Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Microsoft has removed its Israel country manager and placed its Israeli branch under French oversight after an internal investigation into the company’s work with Israel’s Ministry of Defense and military units.
According to reports by Israeli outlets Globes and Ynet, Microsoft forced out former country general manager Alon Haimovich after investigators found conduct that "lacked transparency" toward Microsoft’s global leadership and violated the company’s terms of service.
The company has now transferred Microsoft Israel to operate temporarily under the management of Microsoft France until it appoints a permanent replacement.
The controversy erupted after reports revealed that Israeli intelligence Unit 8200 used Microsoft’s Azure cloud systems to support large-scale surveillance operations targeting Palestinians during the genocide.
Unit 8200 built a mass surveillance system that stored recordings of millions of Palestinian phone calls daily on Microsoft Azure servers located in Europe. The report said the arrangement followed a 2021 meeting between Satya Nadella and Unit 8200’s commander.
Microsoft reportedly terminated Unit 8200’s usage agreement in September 2025. However, the internal investigation later found that additional Israeli military units also used Microsoft systems in ways that raised legal and ethical concerns.
Israeli business newspaper Globes described Unit 8200 as only “the tip of the iceberg.”
The investigation reportedly focused on Microsoft Israel’s sales department and its work with Israel’s Ministry of Defense. Investigators examined whether Israeli management concealed the way military units used Microsoft systems and whether those activities violated Microsoft’s internal policies.
Sources familiar with the probe said Microsoft feared exposure to legal risks and regulatory penalties in Europe, especially because some of the data passed through servers located on European soil, where privacy and surveillance laws remain strict.
Several governance managers at Microsoft Israel also reportedly left their positions during the investigation.
The scandal comes as Microsoft faces growing global backlash over its relationship with Israel’s military during the genocide in Gaza.
In recent months, Microsoft employees and human rights groups intensified pressure on the company over reports that Azure cloud services and artificial intelligence technologies helped Israeli attacks in Gaza.
At Microsoft’s annual developer conference in Seattle in May 2025, thousands of current and former employees protested under the slogan “No Azure for Apartheid.” Demonstrators interrupted major speeches, and demanded an end to contracts with Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
The protests expanded later that year. Demonstrators reportedly entered the office of Microsoft president Brad Smith in August 2025. Although Microsoft fired two employees involved in the protest, Smith later acknowledged that the company had opened an investigation into Israel’s use of Microsoft systems.
Pressure on Microsoft continued to grow after major rights organizations raised concerns about the company’s infrastructure in Europe.
According to US reports, shareholders discussed Microsoft’s contracts with Israel during the company’s annual meeting in December 2025. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, also highlighted concerns that Microsoft infrastructure linked to Israeli military operations relied on European-based servers that fall under strict European privacy laws.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund later backed a shareholder proposal demanding that Microsoft publish a report examining risks linked to operations in countries accused of serious human rights violations.
