Military Audit: Google (Alphabet Inc.)

Direct Defence Contracting & Procurement

Project Nimbus - Core Framework Contract (2021–Present)

In April 2021, Israel’s Finance Ministry announced that Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services had been jointly awarded a contract to provide comprehensive cloud services to the Israeli government, explicitly described as covering “the defence establishment, and others” ¹². The contract was valued at approximately USD 1.2 billion (NIS ~4 billion) over an initial seven-year term running May 2021 to May 2028, extendable to approximately 132 months ³¹. The Israeli government confirmed that coverage encompasses the Israeli Ministry of Defence (IMOD), the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet/Shabak), Israel Police, and Israel Prison Service ²⁴.

IMOD “Landing Zone” Consulting Contract (March–April 2024)

A draft contract dated March 27, 2024, obtained by Time magazine, shows Google billing the IMOD over USD 1 million for consulting services to expand the ministry’s Google Cloud access and allow “multiple units” to access automation technologies ⁵. The contract describes a “landing zone” into Google Cloud as “a secure entry point to Google-provided computing infrastructure, which would allow the ministry to store and process data, and access AI services” ⁵. Google extended a 15% Nimbus-framework discount to the IMOD, with an estimated contract start date of April 14, 2024, and a one-year term ⁵².

Post–October 7 Expansion of IMOD AI Access

In October and November 2023, following the October 7 Hamas attack, a Google employee in the cloud division escalated urgent requests from Israel’s Defence Ministry for expanded access to Google’s Vertex AI service ⁶⁷. An internal November 2023 document shows a Google employee thanking a colleague for handling the Israeli Defence Ministry’s AI access requests ⁶. Documents from spring and summer 2024 further show Google employees receiving and processing requests from IDF personnel for access to Google’s Gemini generative AI model ⁶⁷. IDF use of Google’s AI tools is documented as recently as November 2024 ⁶.

Contractual Scope and Government Admission of Battlefield Utility

Contract documents obtained and published by The Intercept in December 2024 and May 2025 show that Nimbus operates under “adjusted” terms of service rather than Google’s standard terms, that the Israeli government holds a “unilateral right to impose contract changes,” and that the contract contains “no restrictions” on “the type of system and information that the Clients may migrate to the service” ⁸⁹. A second classified contract, reported under the code name “Natrolite,” is alleged to cover classified workloads of the IMOD and Shin Bet; Google did not respond to press inquiries about this contract ¹¹⁰. In February 2024, Gaby Portnoy, Director General of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, publicly stated: “Thanks to the Nimbus public cloud, phenomenal things are happening during the fighting, these things play a significant part in the victory” ⁶.

Pre-Contract Human Rights Assessments

Internal Google human rights assessment documents prepared before May 2021 by Google lawyers and by BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) consultants explicitly warned that “Google Cloud Services could be used for, or linked to, the facilitation of human rights violations, including Israeli activity in the West Bank” ⁹¹¹. BSR consultants recommended barring AI tool sales to the Israeli military; this recommendation was not incorporated into the final Nimbus contract ⁹¹¹. A classified team structure documented in civil society analyses citing Nimbus procurement materials describes a cadre of Israeli nationals with security clearances within Google designated to “receive information by [Israel] that cannot be shared with [Google],” and to participate in “specialized training with government security agencies” and “joint drills and scenarios tailored to specific threats” ¹².

IDF Conference Engagement (2022–2024)

Google Cloud is documented as a sponsor of the IT for IDF annual summit conference in 2022, and a Google Cloud engineer manager (Asaf Lev, a former Unit 8200 official) presented at that event ¹³. In 2023, Google Cloud customer engineer Laura Bouaziz - who previously spent approximately four years at Israel Aerospace Industries developing machine learning systems - spoke at IT for IDF on “Generative AI: The Next Frontier of Innovation,” discussing potential military uses of Google’s generative AI ¹³. In July 2024, Google Cloud’s logo appeared on the IT for IDF 2024 sponsor list; it was removed days before the event following press inquiries, with organizers claiming the logo was included “by mistake” ¹⁴¹⁵. A defence tech conference co-sponsored by Google, Fusion Venture Capital, Genesis, and Israel’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) was listed as scheduled at Google’s Tel Aviv for Startups campus for November 2024; when The Intercept contacted Google and event organizers, the listing was removed from the platform ¹⁶.

Dual-Use Products & Tactical Variants

AI Suite - Contractual Access for IMOD and IDF Without Use Restrictions

Google’s AI suite available under Project Nimbus includes capabilities for facial detection, automated image categorisation, object tracking, sentiment analysis, and machine learning applied to client datasets via Vertex AI - all available to the IMOD and Israeli security agencies without contractual restriction on use type ⁸¹². Vertex AI access was urgently expanded for the IMOD after October 7, 2023, allowing Israeli military units to apply AI algorithms to their own operational data ⁵⁶. In 2024, IDF personnel requested access to Google’s Gemini generative AI model for “processing documents and audio” and for analysing aerial drone footage ¹⁷⁷.

Google Photos - Facial Recognition Deployment in Gaza

The IDF deployed Google Photos’ built-in face-matching functionality as part of a mass biometric surveillance program across Gaza ¹⁸¹⁹. An anonymous Israeli official stated that Google Photos’ facial recognition “worked better than any of the alternative facial recognition tech” deployed in the program ¹⁸. The program has been used to scan Palestinians at military checkpoints, with documented wrongful arrests resulting ¹⁸¹⁹. When The Intercept asked Google about this deployment in April 2024, a spokesperson declined substantive comment and described Google Photos as “a free product widely available to the public” ¹⁸. Human Rights Watch has separately documented the Israeli military’s use of digital tools in Gaza, including facial recognition systems ²⁰.

Gemini AI - Drone Footage Analysis Allegation

A former Google employee filed a federal whistleblower complaint with the US SEC in early 2026 alleging that in July 2024, Google provided AI assistance to CloudEx - an Israeli firm alleged to be an IDF contractor - specifically to improve Gemini’s reliability at identifying military objects including drones, armoured vehicles, and soldiers in aerial video footage ¹⁷²¹. The complaint alleged this violated Google’s then-current AI Principles prohibiting deployment of AI “in relation to weapons” or surveillance violating internationally accepted norms, and that Google misled investors and regulators ¹⁷²¹. Google denied the characterisation, stating it “answered a general use question, as we would for any customer, with standard, help desk information” ¹⁷.

Contractual Elimination of Dual-Use Restrictions

Internal BSR pre-contract assessments identified dual-use risk explicitly and recommended safeguards that were not adopted in the final Nimbus contract ⁹¹¹. Contract documents published by The Intercept confirm the Israeli government negotiated terms that affirmatively eliminate restrictions on military use and prevent Google from enforcing acceptable use policies against the Israeli state ⁸.

”Al-Munasiq” Application on Google Play

Google Play hosts the “al-Munasiq” application developed by Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which collects geolocation data, files, camera access, and other personal data from Palestinian users required to apply for work permits to enter Israel ⁴. Palestinian digital rights organisations including 7amleh have documented and warned against the app’s data collection practices ⁴²².

Removal of AI Weapons and Surveillance Prohibition

In February 2025, Google quietly revised its AI Principles, removing its 2018 commitment not to develop or deploy AI for “weapons” or “surveillance violating internationally accepted norms” ²³. Amnesty International called the removal “shameful” and “a blow for human rights” ²⁴. Google DeepMind UK workers cited this revision as a precipitating factor in their union drive ²⁵²⁶.

Heavy Machinery, Construction & Infrastructure

No public evidence identified that Google, Alphabet, or any named subsidiary manufactures or markets heavy machinery, construction equipment, or earth-moving equipment, or appears in investigations of bulldozer or construction equipment use in settlement construction or demolition activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Google Maps - Cartographic Representation of Occupied Territory

7amleh’s report “Mapping Segregation: Google Maps and the Human Rights of Palestinians” (2018) documents that Google Maps does not include the label “Palestine” or the names of many Palestinian areas unrecognised by Israel, while including Israeli settlements in the West Bank with no marking of their illegality under international law ²². Areas A, B, and C of the West Bank are not demarcated on Google Maps, and Palestinian villages subject to demolition orders remain visible only at very high zoom levels ²⁷²². Palestinian civil society coalitions have called on Google to abide by international law in its cartographic representation of occupied Palestinian territory ²⁷²².

Google Data Centres - Physical Infrastructure in Israel

Under Project Nimbus, Google has built three data centres within Israel at Petah Tikva, Modi’in, and Moshav Bnei Zion, located at least 25 kilometres apart in accordance with contract requirements ²⁸. A fourth data centre site near Moshav Beit Yehoshua has been reported to be in planning and land acquisition as of March 2026 ²⁸. All documented sites are within internationally recognised Israeli territory, not within the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights, based on available reporting ²⁸.

Supply Chain Integration with Defence Primes

IAI and Rafael - Mandatory Nimbus Cloud Customers

A 63-page Israeli government Nimbus procurement document, published in 2021 and updated in October 2023, specifically lists Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and its subsidiary Elta Systems, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, as entities “required to purchase the services that are the subject of the tender from the winning bidder” if they require cloud computing services ²⁹⁴. IAI is the manufacturer of the Heron family of surveillance drones deployed in Gaza operations and Elta radar systems; Rafael is the manufacturer of the Spike missile line and co-developer of Iron Dome ²⁹³⁰. The supply relationship constitutes provision of cloud computing infrastructure and AI services, not physical weapons components or sub-systems ²⁹.

Wiz Acquisition - USD 32 Billion and Unit 8200 Founders

Google completed the acquisition of Israeli cloud cybersecurity company Wiz for USD 32 billion in March 2026, the largest acquisition in Google’s history and the largest-ever acquisition of an Israeli-founded technology company ³¹³². Wiz’s four co-founders - Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Ami Luttwak, and Roy Reznik - all served together in the IDF’s Unit 8200 (Israel’s signals intelligence and cyberwarfare unit) for close to a decade ³¹³³. Unit 8200 veterans have been accused by former unit members of conducting mass surveillance of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and of providing information used for targeted killings ³⁴³³. The transaction generated approximately NIS 10 billion (USD ~3.2 billion) in Israeli tax revenue ³¹³².

CapitalG / Alphabet Ventures - Israeli Cybersecurity Portfolio

CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth investment fund, led a USD 140 million Series D round in Salt Security (an Israeli-founded cybersecurity company), valuing it at USD 1.4 billion ³⁵. CapitalG general partner James Luo stated publicly that “Israel will remain a cyber powerhouse for the next decade” and that CapitalG “will continue to invest [in Israel] aggressively” ³⁵. Additional CapitalG Israeli-founded portfolio companies include Orca Security, which received a USD 210 million funding round in 2021 ³⁵.

Google Cloud Personnel - Israel Aerospace Industries Background

Laura Bouaziz, a Google Cloud customer engineer active in 2023–2024, is documented to have spent approximately four years at Israel Aerospace Industries developing machine learning systems before joining Google Cloud ¹³. She presented at the IT for IDF 2023 conference on generative AI applications and promoted Hebrew-language support for Google’s Gemini LLM ¹³.

Lockheed Martin - Generative AI Partnership for National Security

In March 2025, Lockheed Martin and Google Cloud publicly announced a “Collaboration to Advance Generative AI For National Security” ³⁶. In October 2025, the partnership was expanded: Lockheed Martin and Google Public Sector announced deployment of Google’s Gemini models within Lockheed Martin’s secure AI Factory in air-gapped, on-premise national security environments ³⁷. Lockheed Martin is a major supplier of weapons and aircraft to Israel, including F-35 aircraft; the specific application of the Google–Lockheed AI partnership to Israeli-destined systems is not established in available evidence ³⁶³⁷.

Google Cybereason Investment

Google investment vehicles participated in a USD 50 million funding round for Cybereason in 2021 ³⁸. Cybereason was co-founded by Lior Div, described as a Unit 8200 veteran ³⁸. The company provides cybersecurity products to enterprise customers; no specific supply relationship with Israeli defence primes is established in available sources ³⁸.

Israeli Military Reservists with Google Background

A Guardian/+972 investigation published in March 2025 reported that Unit 8200 mobilised reservist officers with private-sector expertise following October 7, 2023, to build a large language model designed to understand intercepted spoken Arabic, with some described as coming from major US tech companies including Google ³⁹. Google stated that work performed by its employees in their capacity as IDF military reservists was “not connected” to the company ³⁹.

Logistical Sustainment & Base Services

IDF IT Conference - Computing Infrastructure Engagement

Google Cloud’s documented sponsorship of and speaker participation in the IT for IDF conference across 2022, 2023, and 2024 constitutes sustained engagement with IDF information technology and computing services infrastructure ¹⁴¹³. IDF soldiers from Central Command’s C4I unit attended the Google Israel Cloud Summit on November 9, 2022, described by internal reporting as “part of extensive work to implement new technological systems” ¹³. A Google Cloud engineer manager, Asaf Lev - a former Unit 8200 head of application infrastructure - presented at the 2022 IT for IDF conference ¹³.

No public evidence identified that Google holds contracts to provide catering, transport, fuel, waste management, or facilities maintenance to IDF bases or military installations. No public evidence identified of Google providing shipping, freight forwarding, or port handling services for Israeli military cargo or arms shipments.

Munitions, Weapons Systems & Strategic Platforms

No public evidence identified that Google is a prime contractor or licensed manufacturer of small arms, artillery, armoured vehicles, tactical drones, naval vessels, munitions, explosive ordnance, chemical propellants, warhead components, or strategic platforms including Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow, fighter aircraft, warships, or ballistic missiles.

Proximity to Weapons-System End-Users via Nimbus

The mandatory Nimbus procurement requirement places Google Cloud as the cloud infrastructure provider to IAI (producer of the Heron drone family deployed in Gaza operations and Elta radar systems) and Rafael (developer of the Spike missile line and co-developer of Iron Dome) ²⁹⁴³⁰. The nature of the service relationship is cloud computing and AI infrastructure; whether this infrastructure directly supports weapons development, testing, or production activities by these primes is not established in available public evidence ²⁹.

Lockheed Martin - Air-Gapped AI Deployment

The October 2025 Lockheed Martin–Google Public Sector announcement describes deployment of Google Gemini models within Lockheed Martin’s AI Factory in air-gapped, on-premise national security environments, covering secure generative AI applications within a major weapons manufacturer’s operations ³⁷. The specific weapons systems or programmes to which this deployment applies have not been identified in available public sources ³⁶³⁷.

Export Licensing, Regulatory & Legal History

US Export Control Framework

No public evidence identified of a specific US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) export licence application, denial, suspension, or revocation specifically relating to Google’s cloud services or AI technology exports to Israeli military or security end-users.

NLRB - Employee Retaliation Complaints

Ariel Koren, a Google marketing manager who organised internal opposition to Project Nimbus, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board after being given an ultimatum in November 2021 to relocate from San Francisco to São Paulo or lose her job ⁴⁰⁴¹. The NLRB dismissed the complaint for insufficient evidence; Koren resigned in September 2022, citing retaliation and the company “silencing Palestinians” ⁴¹. An open NLRB charge (case number 02-CA-341152) related to the April 2024 protests remained listed as open on the NLRB’s website as of available reporting ⁴⁰.

Federal Civil Lawsuit - Anderson et al. v. Google LLC

Former employees fired in connection with April 2024 Project Nimbus protests filed suit in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging unlawful retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and discrimination against Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim employees ⁴². As of September 2025, Judge Beth Labson Freeman denied Google’s motion to dismiss the Title VII claims, finding “additional factual development is required at this stage,” while some state-law claims were dismissed ⁴².

SEC Whistleblower Complaint - Gemini AI and IDF Contractor (2026)

A former Google employee filed a confidential federal whistleblower complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in early 2026, alleging that Google provided AI assistance to CloudEx - an Israeli tech firm alleged to be an IDF contractor - in July 2024, specifically to improve Gemini’s reliability at identifying military objects including drones, armoured vehicles, and soldiers in aerial video footage ¹⁷²¹. The complaint alleged Google violated its then-applicable AI Principles and misled investors and regulators about the extent of military AI deployments ²¹. Google denied the characterisation ¹⁷.

”Winking Mechanism” - Potential Circumvention of Legal Disclosure Obligations

A Guardian/+972 investigation (October 2025), citing leaked Nimbus contract documents, reported that the final contract includes a “winking mechanism” - covert payment signals to Israel’s Finance Ministry using country telephone dialling codes denominated in shekels - designed to secretly notify Israel whenever data is shared with a foreign government pursuant to a legal order, including when that order carries a non-disclosure gag ⁴³⁴⁴¹⁰. The Intercept (May 2025) noted this arrangement could cause Google to “breach international legal orders / law” ⁹. The contract also obliged Google to “Reject, Appeal, and Resist Foreign Government Access Requests” and prohibited Google from responding to law enforcement disclosure requests without Israeli consultation and in some cases approval ⁹¹⁰. Google denied circumventing legal obligations, stating: “The idea that we would evade our legal obligations to the US government as a US company, or in any other country, is categorically wrong” ⁴³⁴⁴.

CCR Legal Notification (May 2026)

In May 2026, the Center for Constitutional Rights, alongside a coalition of legal groups, formally notified Google LLC and its executive leadership of “potential legal liability for aiding and abetting atrocity crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian population of Gaza,” citing Project Nimbus, Google’s provision of AI tools to the IDF, and the use of Google Photos facial recognition in Gaza ⁴⁵. This is a civil society legal notice, not a court filing or government enforcement action ⁴⁵.

Civil Society Scrutiny & Documented Investigations

Authoritative Database Listings

Alphabet Inc./Google is listed in the AFSC Investigate database of companies with “demonstrated links to Israeli military occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide, or other grave human rights violations,” with documented entries covering Project Nimbus, the IMOD consulting contract, Vertex AI and Gemini AI access by the IDF, and cloud infrastructure provision to IAI, Rafael, and Elta ². Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.) is listed in the Who Profits Research Center database under categories including “Population Control,” “Specialized Equipment and Services,” and “The Wall and Checkpoints,” documenting Nimbus, IMOD contracts, facial recognition use, and the “al-Munasiq” app ⁴.

UN Special Rapporteur Report - A/HRC/59/23 (July 2025)

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide” (A/HRC/59/23), presented at the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council in July 2025, names Alphabet Inc. as one of 48 corporate actors with documented involvement ⁴⁶⁴⁷. The report documents that Alphabet provided “core tech infrastructure” to the Israeli state under Project Nimbus and that multinational companies including Google provided “tools, technologies, and logistical support that have fueled the massive use of force against the Palestinian civilian population, including biometric surveillance systems, predictive analysis through artificial intelligence, and critical cloud services for military operations” ⁴⁶⁴⁷.

UN OHCHR Settlement Database - A/HRC/60/19 (September 2025)

The UN OHCHR Settlement Database (A/HRC/60/19, updated September 2025) listed 158 business enterprises from 11 countries; available public reporting does not specifically identify Google or Alphabet among the listed companies in this settlement-specific database, which focuses on activities related to the settlement enterprise under HRC resolution 31/36 ⁴⁸.

BDS Movement and No Tech for Apartheid Campaign

The BDS Movement’s November 2024 “Guide to BDS Boycott & Pressure Corporate Priority Targeting” formally lists Google as a primary target, citing Project Nimbus as providing the “platform for the Israeli military to run deadly AI programs” ⁴⁹. No Tech for Apartheid (NOTA), a worker-led campaign launched in 2021 by Jewish Voice for Peace and MPower Change in partnership with Google and Amazon employees, has maintained three core demands: cancellation of Project Nimbus, cessation of harassment of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim employees, and an end to retaliation against protesting workers ⁴⁰.

Employee Protests, Terminations, and Workforce Mobilisation

On April 16, 2024, No Tech for Apartheid organised simultaneous sit-ins at Google offices in New York City, Sunnyvale, and Seattle; employees occupied the New York City office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurial while livestreaming the action ⁵⁰⁴⁰. Google fired 28 employees the following day; the total reached 50 or more firings within days, including employees who had not directly participated in the protests ⁵⁰⁴⁰. Nine employees were charged with trespassing ⁵⁰. More than 1,100 self-identified STEM students and young workers from over 120 universities signed a pledge not to take jobs or internships at Google or Amazon until the companies end their Project Nimbus involvement ⁴⁰. In May 2026, approximately 1,000 UK-based Google DeepMind staff voted 98% in favour of formal recognition of the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union, with stated demands including cancellation of Project Nimbus, reinstatement of the weapons/surveillance AI commitment, and individual rights to refuse military AI projects ²⁵²⁶. In June 2026, approximately 200 students walked out of CEO Sundar Pichai’s Stanford commencement address over Google’s Israel contracts ⁵¹.

Institutional Investor Pressure - Shareholder Proposals

A coalition of more than 40 investors managing USD 1.15 trillion collectively - including Norges Bank Investment Management (the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund), Zevin Asset Management, Azzad Asset Management, and Storebrand Asset Management - backed a shareholder proposal at Alphabet’s 2026 annual meeting calling for greater transparency over risks posed by government use of Google’s cloud and AI technology, specifically citing Project Nimbus ⁵². Alphabet’s Board of Directors recommended shareholders vote against the proposal ⁵². A shareholder resolution at the June 6, 2025 annual meeting requested an independent third-party report to determine whether customers’ use of Alphabet’s products “contributes to human rights harms in conflict-affected and high-risk areas”; the Board again recommended voting against ⁵³.

Individual Conduct of Controlling Principals

In July 2025, Google co-founder and controlling shareholder Sergey Brin posted in an internal company employee forum, in response to the publication of the Albanese A/HRC/59/23 report, characterising the UN as “transparently antisemitic organizations” and stating that “throwing around the term genocide in relation to Gaza is deeply offensive to many Jewish people who have suffered actual genocides” ⁵⁴⁵⁵. Former CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt chairs the National Security Commission on AI and has invested in Kela Technologies - an Israeli defence-tech startup backed by Sequoia Capital, Lux Capital, and In-Q-Tel (the CIA’s investment arm) - which builds open-architecture command and control systems for border defence and has signed contracts worth over USD 50 million ⁵⁶. Kela was reported in 2026 to be raising a USD 200 million round at a USD 1.2 billion valuation ⁵⁶.

Corporate Donation-Matching to Military and Settlement Charities

Leaked internal Google web pages disclosed that Google’s corporate charitable giving programme, administered via Benevity, matches employee donations to: Friends of the Israeli Defence Forces (FIDF) - a US 501(c)(3) providing welfare programmes for IDF combat soldiers, which raised USD 34.5 million following October 7, 2023; HaYovel - a Missouri-based organisation that sends volunteers to farms in West Bank Israeli settlements and has reportedly purchased USD 3.5 million in security equipment for settler communities since October 7, 2023; and IsraelGives - a fundraising platform permitting donations to West Bank settlement infrastructure, paramilitary groups, and Israeli military units ⁵⁷. Google stated the programme covers “more than 200,000 eligible organizations” and that vetting is conducted by Benevity; no subsequent policy change was identified in available sources ⁵⁷.

Sector NGO Documentation

Access Now’s 2024 report documents the deployment of AI tools including biometric surveillance by the Israeli military in Gaza and contextualises the enabling role of commercial cloud and AI providers ¹⁹. Al-Shabaka has published analysis contextualising Google’s Project Nimbus as part of broader big-tech enablement of Israeli military and occupation infrastructure, including the classified team structure within Google and the AI capabilities made available without contractual restriction ¹². Tech for Palestine has documented personnel links between Google and the IDF and Google’s engagement with Israeli military technology conferences ³⁸.

End Notes