Microsoft Israel Chief Ousted Over Military Surveillance Probe

Alon Haimovich, general manager of Microsoft Israel, will step down on May 31 following an internal investigation that uncovered the Israeli military's misuse of Azure cloud services for mass surveillance of Palestinians. The investigation, conducted by law firm Covington & Burling, found that Israeli intelligence Unit 8200 stored millions of intercepted Palestinian phone calls on Azure and used the platform to identify bombing targets in Gaza and assist military operations in the West Bank, all in violation of Microsoft's terms of service prohibiting mass surveillance.

Initial reports on May 12 described Haimovich as fired alongside several senior members of Microsoft Israel's governance department, after compliance investigators uncovered "usage patterns" consistent with unethical Azure use. The probe revealed that a previously terminated Unit 8200 contract was just the "tip of the iceberg." Israel-based employees had not been transparent with Microsoft's parent company about how the technology was used, exposing Microsoft to legal and regulatory risks in Europe where the relevant servers were based.

Haimovich was central to building Microsoft's relationship with the Israeli military, having attended a 2021 meeting between CEO Satya Nadella and Unit 8200's then-commander. Microsoft had already disabled some services to the Israeli Ministry of Defense in September, and has now revoked Unit 8200's access to Azure and AI tools. Microsoft Israel has been placed under the administration of Microsoft France while the company seeks a new general manager. IDF units have reportedly begun transferring cloud infrastructure to Amazon and Google datacenters within Israel's borders, where they face less international regulatory oversight.

The activist group No Azure for Apartheid, which led months of employee protests and public boycotts, claimed credit for Haimovich's departure but noted that most Microsoft contracts with the Israeli military remain intact and demanded the company sever all ties.