ISRAEL MADE GOOGLE AND AMAZON USE SECRET PAYMENTS TO DODGE LEGAL ORDERS: REPORT

Thu 30 October 2025:

When Google and Amazon negotiated a massive $1.2bn cloud computing deal in 2021 with the Israeli government, a secret arrangement known as the “winking mechanism” was included, according to a new joint investigation by The Guardian and the Israeli publications +972 Magazine and Local Call.

The secret warning system obligates the companies to “send signals hidden in payments to the Israeli government, tipping it off when it has disclosed Israeli data to foreign courts or investigators”, the investigation found.

The payments, under the deal known as Project Nimbus, correspond to the telephone dialling code of the foreign country, and range between 1,000 and 9,999 shekels (US $307 to $3,066).

“Israeli officials inserted the controls to counter a series of anticipated threats. They feared Google or Amazon might bow to employee or shareholder pressure and withdraw Israel’s access to its products and services if linked to human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories,” the report stated.

Both Google and Amazon’s cloud businesses have denied evading any legal obligations, the outlets reported.

“Legal experts, including several former US prosecutors, said the arrangement was highly unusual and carried risks for the companies as the coded messages could violate legal obligations in the US, where the companies are headquartered, to keep a subpoena secret,” the report stated.

__________________________________________________________________________

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22

__________________________________________________________________________

Based on the documents and descriptions of the contract by Israeli officials, the investigation reveals how the companies bowed to a series of stringent and unorthodox “controls” contained within the 2021 deal, known as Project Nimbus. Both Google and Amazon’s cloud businesses have denied evading any legal obligations.

The strict controls include measures that prohibit the US companies from restricting how an array of Israeli government agencies, security services and military units use their cloud services. According to the deal’s terms, the companies cannot suspend or withdraw Israel’s access to its technology, even if it’s found to have violated their terms of service.

Israeli officials inserted the controls to counter a series of anticipated threats. They feared Google or Amazon might bow to employee or shareholder pressure and withdraw Israel’s access to its products and services if linked to human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Microsoft, which provides a range of cloud services to Israel’s military and public sector, bid for the Nimbus contract but was beaten by its rivals. According to sources familiar with negotiations, Microsoft’s bid suffered as it refused to accept some of Israel’s demands.

In Gaza where a UN inquiry commission has determined that Israel perpetrated genocide, the Israeli armed forces have extensively utilized cloud services for storing and processing massive amounts of data and intelligence during their assault.

For instance, a massive archive of intercepted Palestinian phone conversations was housed on Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure until August, with military intelligence sources indicating a planned shift to Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

__________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22