Microsoft said to block IDF from cloud system over use in surveillance of Palestinians

Report says tech giant told army that unit 8200 ‘violated terms of service’ in storing of phone recordings; military officials say unit backed data up ahead of time, no info lost

By ToI Staff 25 September 2025, 9:41 pm

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A Microsoft sign and logo are pictured at the company's headquarters, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Washington. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond, File)

Microsoft recently terminated the Israeli military’s main signals intelligence unit’s access to some of its services, after it allegedly used the Azure cloud platform for expansive surveillance of Palestinians, according to a Thursday report.

According to the UK’s The Guardian, Microsoft told Israeli officials last week that the IDF’s Unit 8200 had “violated the company’s terms of service by storing the vast trove of surveillance data” on Azure.

A report last month conducted by the Guardian and the far-left activist outlet +972 Magazine said Microsoft’s Azure software was used by Unit 8200 to store countless recordings of mobile phone calls made by Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In response to that report, Microsoft ordered an external review of its relationship with Unit 8200. According to the Guardian, the findings have led Microsoft to cancel the unit’s access to “some of its cloud storage and AI services.”

The Guardian added that the decision to cut some of the Azure services to Unit 8200 has not affected Microsoft’s wider relationship with the IDF, and the Israeli military will retain access to other services.

There was no official comment from Microsoft or the IDF in response to the report.

Illustrative: A soldier from the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate works at a computer. (Israel Defense Forces)

Following the report, military officials told The Times of Israel that Unit 8200 had prepared ahead of time and backed up its data before Microsoft terminated its access to the cloud services, and therefore, no information was lost.

“There is no damage to the operational capabilities of the IDF,” one official said.

Microsoft’s ties to Israel have been the subject of several protests at the company’s offices, including sit-ins and demonstrations led by the No Azure for Apartheid protest group.

Last month, the company fired four employees who participated in protests on company premises. Microsoft said the terminations followed serious breaches of company policies and said recent on-site demonstrations had “created significant safety concerns.”

Earlier this year, The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about Microsoft’s close partnership with the Israeli Defense Ministry, which uses Azure to transcribe, translate and process intelligence gathered through mass surveillance. The AP reported that the data can be cross-checked with Israel’s in-house, AI-enabled systems to help select targets.

Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrators hold banners and signs as they protest outside the Microsoft Build conference at the Seattle Convention Center in Seattle, Washington, on May 19, 2025. (Jason Redmond / AFP)

Following the AP’s report, Microsoft said a review found no evidence that its Azure platform and artificial intelligence technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza. Microsoft did not share a copy of that review, but the company said it would share factual findings from the further review prompted by The Guardian’s report when complete.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

Israel’s subsequent campaign against the terror group in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians — including over 20,000 terror operatives, according to the IDF — caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population, and prompted accusations of war crimes and mounting international pressure to end the war.