Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post reveal the cooperation between Google and the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the IDF during the fighting in Gaza, which began immediately after October 7, 2023. The documents show how the company granted access to its advanced artificial intelligence technologies to security forces, contrary to its public statements attempting to distance itself from military uses of its technology.
The story begins with the multi-billion dollar Nimbus cloud contract, signed in 2021, designed to usher Israeli government ministries into a new technological era through advanced cloud services, including data storage and processing. As part of the contract, Google and Amazon established data centers in Israel and developed dedicated services for government use, including for the defense establishment.
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Advanced AI provided to the IDF by Google helped on the battlefield
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
Although Google previously stated that the contract “is not intended for sensitive or classified military uses,” the documents show a different reality. After the Hamas attack, Google employees worked to give the defense establishment access to advanced services such as Vertex, a platform that enables data analysis and the operation of artificial intelligence algorithms for customized needs.
According to the documents, the Ministry of Defense worked to accelerate access to Google’s technologies, and even warned that if the company did not provide the services quickly, they would be forced to turn to Amazon, which is also a partner in the contract in question.
One of the requests that emerged from the documents was to develop an AI-based assistant that could process documents and audio files, presumably for operational purposes. In addition, until November 2024, almost a year after the start of the fighting in Gaza, Israel continued to ask Google for access to more advanced technologies such as Gemini, which enables complex data processing and assistance in decision-making processes.
The documents further reveal that the IDF has used AI technologies to improve its capabilities on the battlefield. One of the systems, Habsora, is designed to provide commanders with a list of potential targets, based on the analysis of data such as intercepted communications, satellite imagery and other intelligence.
Habsora, built on hundreds of algorithms, made it possible to analyze data at breakneck speed and produce coordinates of targets, such as rocket launch sites and tunnels. However, senior IDF officials expressed concern about overreliance on the system, especially regarding the accuracy and ability of the technology to replace traditional human analysis.
The company’s employees objected
The use of Google technologies for military purposes has sparked widespread opposition within the company. Since the signing of the Nimbus contract, Google employees have protested against the company’s involvement in Israel’s military activities.
More than 50 employees were fired last year after speaking out against the contract, claiming it could be used to support military activity that violates Palestinian human rights. In the summer of 2024, more than 100 employees sent a letter to the company’s management and human rights team, demanding that it reconsider its ties with the Israeli Ministry of Defense. According to an anonymous Google employee quoted in the article, the request was not granted.
Google has repeatedly stated its commitment to human rights, and even stated in its AI policy that the company would not apply technologies “for uses that could harm humans.” When it acquired DeepMind in 2014, it was also agreed that its technology would not be used for military or surveillance purposes.
But a conference held last year, Gaby Portnoy, director general of the National Cyber Directorate, noted that “thanks to the Nimbus public cloud, phenomenal things are happening during combat, which constitute a significant part of our victory.”
A response from Google wreceived at the time of publication of the article, and will be provided when received.of companies like Google and Amazon. For example, will giant corporations remain neutral, or will their developments become battlefield tools in various conflicts around the world.
A response from Google was not received at the time of publication of the article.