INDEX / DIRECTORY / IBM

IBM

AI & DataEnterprise Data StorageCloud Computing PlatformsData Analytics & Observability 119 CITED SOURCES UPDATED 2026-09-08 METHOD V6.5
Complicity Index score 812 /1000 A Tier A - Extreme
Military ↗ 4.32 Digital ↗ 8.50 Economic ↗ 7.20 Political ↗ 7.20
OWNERSHIP TREE 24 brands and group businesses View all

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Key Findings

  • Digital: IBM Israel has operated Israel’s PIBA/Eitan biometric population registry since 2019; audit sources describe the system as processing data on Palestinians and supporting the permit and movement-control regime.1, 2
  • Military: Historical IBM server, storage and military computing-centre contracts are documented; the retained record does not establish their current recurring physical-supply scale.3
  • Economic: IBM maintains research sites in Haifa, Givatayim and Be’er Sheva; its broader Israeli workforce figure of more than 3,000 is dated 2023.4, 5
  • Political: IBM participates in recurring Cybertech and state-linked innovation activity; its October 2023 humanitarian statement does not identify the two recipient organisations.3, 6, 7

Target Profile

FieldDetail
Company NameInternational Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
JurisdictionNew York, United States.8
HeadquartersArmonk, New York, United States.9
SectorEnterprise technology, software, hardware, cloud, cybersecurity, research, and consulting.9
OwnershipNYSE-listed, widely held public company; the audit identifies Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street as its largest institutional shareholders as of 2025.10
Key Executives / GovernanceArvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO; Krishna also serves on Northrop Grumman’s board. Shai Banaim was appointed IBM Israel general manager in 2022.11, 12
Israeli-Nexus SummaryIBM and wholly owned Israeli subsidiaries, including Red Hat Israel, maintain a substantial Israeli R&D and state-technology presence involving PIBA/Eitan, Israel Police systems, and documented military cloud and computing relationships.1, 13, 14

Key Facts:

Executive Summary

IBM’s documented Israel/Palestine nexus is principally technological and infrastructural. IBM Israel is reported to have designed and operated the Eitan central database for Israel’s Population, Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) since 2019. Audit sources state that the biometric registry holds data on citizens and non-citizens, including Palestinians in occupied territories, and is connected to the administration of permits and movement controls.1, 2 The UN Special Rapporteur’s 2025 report names IBM in connection with managing and upgrading PIBA’s database and with training military and intelligence personnel; this is a UN Special Rapporteur finding, not an adjudicated judicial determination.16

The digital record also concerns Red Hat Israel, IBM’s wholly owned subsidiary. The audits document Red Hat OpenShift infrastructure for Mamram’s IDF operational cloud, including reported deployments for the Air Force, Ground Forces, Intelligence Directorate, and Navy. They also document historical IBM/IBM Israel contracts for Israeli military computing infrastructure, while preserving an important limitation on the announced 2020 regional-logistics project: IBM was reportedly replaced as lead subcontractor after Malam exited, and the value and duration of IBM’s continuing computing-services/product role were not publicly quantified.13, 17, 18, 19

IBM’s economic footprint includes a long-standing Israeli R&D presence, acquisitions of Israeli-founded technology companies, and continuing Israel Police technology supply. The audits identify 2025 sole-source IBM MQ and DataPower arrangements that extend the police relationship through December 2030 and January 2031. IBM’s publicly reported Israel-specific revenue, profit, tax, and repatriation figures were not identified; consolidated reporting places Israel within IBM’s EMEA reporting segment.14, 10, 20

The record also contains material limits and exculpatory findings. No public evidence identified links IBM to manufacture of weapons or munitions for Israel; to supplies for Iron Dome, Arrow, F-35, Merkava, or Israeli naval programmes; to offensive cyber tools, NSO Group, Cellebrite, or the Lavender targeting system; or to a dedicated IBM Cloud region in Israel.21, 22, 23 IBM does not appear in the OHCHR’s 2025 settlement-business database. Its documented 2019 engagement with Ariel University has no verified continuation after that year, and the separate settlement activity of former logistics subcontractor Malam does not establish a current IBM activity there.22, 24

Under the fixed, human-vetted V6.5 assessment supplied for this dossier, IBM receives a BRS of 812, placing it in Tier A (Extreme Complicity). Eitan’s operational biometric-registry architecture governs Digital. Historical physical procurement governs Military, current R&D governs Economic, and recurring state-linked technology participation governs Political. Distinct scenarios are compared individually; their evidence is not pooled into a single maximum.

Timeline of Relevant Events

DateEvent
1972IBM Israel Scientific Center was established at the Technion in Haifa, beginning IBM’s documented Israeli research presence.4
1975IBM’s technology supply relationship with Israel Police began, according to Who Profits research cited by the audits.14
c. 2008IBM was reportedly contracted for Israeli military server provision, including a three-year server contract and a separate VMware-server contract.3
December 2011Calcalist reported that IBM won an Israeli Ministry of Defense tender for storage and central servers; audit sources describe the value as “hundreds of millions of dollars.”3
August 2013IBM acquired Israel/US cybersecurity company Trusteer; reported deal values vary across sources.25
2017IBM was reportedly contracted for operation and maintenance of Israeli military computing centres at a value exceeding $20 million.3
2017–2019IBM Israel was selected to design, build, and then operate the PIBA/Eitan biometric registry; the audit distinguishes these stages and reports operation from 2019.1
January 2018IBM expanded its Be’er Sheva cybersecurity facility into Gav-Yam Negev High-Tech Park, a site connected in audit sources to Israel’s Ministry of Defense “Southern Relocation” plan.26
December 2020IBM Israel and Elbit Systems were jointly awarded the reported NIS 18 million PIBA “Marom” e-visa project.1
September 2020Malam’s filing recorded its exit from the announced military-logistics arrangement; reporting said IBM was replaced as lead subcontractor but would continue supplying computing services and products, without a disclosed continuing value or duration.18, 19
April 2024Matrix IT announced collaboration with Red Hat Israel to supply OpenShift as a hybrid-cloud platform layer for Project Nimbus.15
October 2024Red Hat removed its Mamram/IDF case-study material from its website; no public evidence identified of a corresponding contract termination in the cited reporting.27
May 2025An IBM MQ maintenance award for Israel Police was reported to run through December 2030.14
July 2025The UN Special Rapporteur’s A/HRC/59/23 report named IBM in its discussion of the Israeli surveillance apparatus, PIBA, and military/intelligence personnel training.16
November 2025IBM Israel was reported to have received an Israel Police sole-supplier DataPower award running through January 2031.14

Corporate Overview

IBM is a New York-incorporated, NYSE-listed enterprise-technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York.8, 9 It is not Israeli-founded, state-owned, or identified in the audits as Israeli tax-resident or controlled by Israeli capital. The audits identify IBM as a widely held corporation with major institutional shareholders including Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street; no public evidence identified establishes a golden share or charter provision tying IBM’s corporate mission to Israeli state policy.10, 28

IBM’s Israeli operations are conducted through wholly owned subsidiaries identified by Who Profits as IBM Israel Ltd., IBM Information Services Ltd., IBM Global Services (Israel) Ltd., IBM Israel Science and Technology Ltd., I.B.M. Israel Properties Ltd., and Red Hat Israel Ltd.3 IBM Research Israel’s current primary page identifies Haifa, Givatayim, and Be’er Sheva research locations. Broader audit material reports more than 3,000 employees across Israeli R&D sites as of 2023, but this figure should not be treated as a current count for the three-site Research Israel page.4, 5

IBM’s Israeli footprint has also included acquisitions of Israeli-founded technology businesses. The audits specifically identify Trusteer and Polar Security as acquired companies whose security technologies were incorporated into IBM product lines; they caution that an acquisition history does not establish that every historical acquired product remains with IBM.25, 29 Red Hat Israel’s relationship with Matrix IT is distribution-based: Red Hat designated Matrix as its main distributor in Israel,30 and the audits describe the subsequent Nimbus linkage as indirect rather than an IBM direct prime contract.15

Domain Summaries

Military: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

The audits document IBM/IBM Israel relationships with Israel’s Ministry of Defense and IDF spanning historical server, storage, computing-centre, and IT-service contracts. Reported examples include military server contracts around 2008, a 2011 storage and central-server tender, and a 2017 contract for operation and maintenance of military computing centres worth more than $20 million.3

The final military triad is 5.5/5.5/7.5 (V4.32). It reflects knowing historical military-channel procurement and direct contracts, with reduced magnitude because recurring current physical supply is not established. Red Hat’s OpenShift and Nimbus platform relationships are digital services and are assessed in Digital; they do not supply the missing physical quantity or continuity evidence.3, 15

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

IBM’s strongest defence is that it is not documented as a weapons manufacturer or lethal-platform prime contractor. No public evidence identified shows IBM supplying munitions, weapons components, Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow, F-35, Merkava, or Israeli naval programmes.21 No public evidence identified establishes a Red Hat Device Edge sale or deployment to Israeli lethal platforms.31

The audits also limit the 2020 logistics-centre allegation. Malam’s September 2020 exit is documented, and contemporary reporting says IBM was replaced as lead subcontractor while retaining a narrower, unquantified computing-services/product role. The original projected revenue stream must therefore not be treated as a realized IBM-only award.18 Similarly, IBM’s participation in a Rafael-led 2016–17 IDF data-centre tender consortium does not establish a confirmed contract award.32

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Digital: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

IBM Israel’s operation of the Eitan/PIBA biometric registry is the governing digital nexus. The 8.5/7.5/9 triad applies the rubric’s architect clause to a service operationally used by state organs; it is not a finding that IBM supplies lethal targeting code. The audits distinguish IBM’s 2017 selection, a reported 2018 development contract of approximately NIS 840 million, and operating role from 2019. The system is described as storing biometric and other personal data relating to citizens and non-citizens, including Palestinians in occupied territories, and as supporting the permit and movement-control regime.1, 2

IBM also has a documented technology-supply relationship with Israel Police. IBM MQ and IBM DataPower are described as supporting classified-network messaging and related infrastructure. Audit sources report active IBM MQ maintenance through December 2030 and IBM DataPower supply through January 2031.14

Red Hat’s OpenShift deployment for Mamram is both a military and digital-infrastructure relationship. The audits characterize it as cloud, data-centre-consolidation, and edge-computing infrastructure rather than evidence that IBM directly supplies targeting software, autonomous weapons, or offensive cyber capabilities.13, 17 An AP investigation summarized by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre separately identified Red Hat as providing cloud computing in the Israeli military technology ecosystem; the audit treats this as AI-adjacent infrastructure, not proof of AI or targeting-software supply.33

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

IBM ended general-purpose facial-recognition sales in 2020, citing mass-surveillance and racial-profiling concerns.34 That policy does not erase the separate audit evidence concerning PIBA/Eitan, but it is relevant evidence of a publicly stated limit on IBM’s general-purpose facial-recognition business.

No public evidence identified connects IBM to offensive cyber tools, exploit brokering, NSO Group, Cellebrite, autonomous targeting, threat-detection systems, or IBM-derived AI models trained on intercepted Palestinian communications.23 A claimed IBM role in the Israeli military’s Lavender targeting system was not corroborated and is excluded from findings.23 No public evidence identified shows IBM operating a dedicated local IBM Cloud region in Israel.15

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Economic: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

IBM’s governing economic activity is its continuing Israeli R&D operation. The 7.2/7.3/9.1 triad reflects core R&D, the documented footprint and direct group operation of a foreign-founded parent; it does not apply an Israeli-foundation floor to IBM itself. The audit identifies long-running state-technology supply relationships, including Israel Police infrastructure, PIBA/Eitan, IBM and Red Hat military computing work, and a sustained Israeli R&D footprint.14, 3

IBM’s investment footprint includes acquisitions of Israeli-founded technology businesses. The audits identify Trusteer and Polar Security, among other historical acquisitions, as operating-business acquisitions rather than passive minority holdings. Trusteer and Polar Security technology are described as folded into IBM Security’s fraud-protection and cloud-data-security offerings.25, 29 IBM’s public reporting does not disclose Israel-specific revenue, profit, tax, or repatriation figures; Israel is included in EMEA reporting.20

IBM Israel’s documented facilities and research presence include locations in Haifa, Givatayim, Be’er Sheva, and other historically reported Israeli R&D sites. The audits also identify a Be’er Sheva cyber centre situated in a technology park linked to a Ministry of Defense-led effort to integrate military cyber-unit veterans into the technology sector.4, 26

Historical acquisitions require separate retention checks: HCL completed its purchase of selected IBM products including Sametime on 1 July 2019, and Francisco Partners completed the healthcare-data/analytics transaction that created Merative in June 2022. Neither historical product lineage proves a current IBM asset.36, 37

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

No public evidence identified establishes IBM as an importer of agricultural goods, a participant in physical-goods sourcing tied to Israel, a holder of Israeli sovereign bonds, an Israel-bond underwriter, or an insurer of Israeli sovereign debt.20 No public evidence identified confirms IBM Israel preferred-tax-enterprise status, Israeli tax residency, or Israel-specific tax contribution figures.20, 28

The audits record IBM’s 2019 engagement with Ariel University, located in the Ariel settlement, but find no public evidence identifying whether that relationship continued after 2019.24 IBM does not appear in the 2025 OHCHR settlement-business database; the audit notes that the database has a defined settlement-activity mandate and its absence is not an all-purpose clearance.22

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Political: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

IBM’s governing political activity is recurring Cybertech participation and formal state-linked innovation collaboration, scored 7.2/7/9. Corporate communications and other acts are separately assessed rather than used to increase that scenario’s magnitude. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna’s October 2023 statement condemned the attacks, reported employee and retiree deaths, and announced 1:1 employee donation matching to two Israeli relief organisations. The statement did not mention Gaza, Palestinians, or Palestinian civilian casualties.6 Red Hat CEO Matt Hicks’s 12 October 2023 statement recommended Magen David Adom and described a general employee matching programme covering gifts of at least $25, up to $1,500 per employee annually. It did not identify an executed MDA payment or an earmarked military-welfare grant, and likewise did not refer to Gaza or Palestinians.38

In a June 2024 internal Q&A reported by The Intercept, Krishna responded to questions on IBM’s Israel operations by describing a country-by-country approach and saying he was not making a moral or ethical judgment. The same report records employee criticism and continuing pressure to disclose or limit Israeli military-linked work.39

The audits document IBM’s participation in state-linked technology and cyber ecosystems, including an Israel Innovation Authority committee that operates joint ventures with the Ministry of Defense Administration and National Cyber Directorate, and recurring participation in Cybertech Global Tel Aviv.3, 7 They also identify Red Hat’s December 2023 hosting of 100 students from an Israeli military Computer and Cyber Defense School preparatory programme for a three-day hackathon aimed at technology adapted to military use. This is distinct from the humanitarian matching scheme.3

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

No public evidence identified links IBM corporate political action committees to AIPAC or comparable pro-Israel PAC flows, or identifies direct IBM corporate donations to FIDF, JNF/KKL, Regavim, Im Tirtzu, or named military-welfare or settlement organisations.40 IBM’s disclosed October 2023 giving concerned unnamed Israeli humanitarian and relief organisations; the public statement does not establish an exhaustive account of all group or subsidiary activity.6

No public evidence identified shows IBM has accepted Israeli state honours, sponsored an explicit “Brand Israel” campaign, or adopted an annual-report position framing Israel as a unique geopolitical partnership.28, 7 No public evidence identified establishes personal donations or formal pro-Israel advocacy-board roles by Krishna or named IBM board members.40 The audit also excludes an attributed “innovation, not politics” remark because it could not be corroborated.12

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Complicity Index Score

Method: V6.5.

DomainIMPV-Domain Score
Military5.505.507.504.32
Digital8.507.509.008.50
Economic7.207.309.107.20
Political7.207.009.007.20

Digital’s Eitan scenario governs V_MAX. Its national operating scale and direct IBM Israel role are scored independently of the lower Mamram platform scenario. The other domains use the historical physical-supply, current R&D and recurring state-linked technology-participation scenarios described above.

The V6.5 assessment evaluates documented activity, its scale and structural proximity, with examiner review and a separate human publication decision. It does not treat allegations as verified merely because they are widely repeated, and it does not convert indirect, changed, historical, or unconfirmed relationships into stronger claims.

Methodology Note

Footnotes

  1. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7236 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session59/advance-version/a-hrc-59-23-aev.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/158 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  4. https://research.ibm.com/labs/israel ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  5. https://investigate.afsc.org/company/ibm ↩ ↩2

  6. https://newsroom.ibm.com/War-in-Israel-A-Message-From-Arvind-Krishna ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. https://www.cybertechisrael.com/speakers ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. https://www.ibm.com/investor/help/general-faqs ↩ ↩2

  9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Israel ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  10. https://www.kamilfranek.com/who-owns-ibm-largest-shareholders/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. https://www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are/leadership/arvind-krishna ↩ ↩2

  12. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ibm_congratulations-to-shai-banaim-on-his-appointment-activity-6949240332622454784-6E0F ↩ ↩2

  13. https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/158 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7236 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  15. https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/158 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  16. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session59/advance-version/a-hrc-59-23-aev.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  17. https://www.edgeir.com/red-hat-upgrades-idfs-field-applications-of-cloud-and-edge-computing-20220508 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  18. https://mayafiles.tase.co.il/rpdf/1332001-1333000/P1332974-00.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  19. https://www.calcalist.co.il/markets/articles/0,7340,L-3851995,00.html ↩ ↩2

  20. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/51143/000005114326000010/ibm-20251231_d2.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  21. https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/158 ↩ ↩2

  22. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session60/advance-version/a-hrc-60-19-aev.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  23. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/ap-exposes-big-tech-ai-systems-direct-role-in-warfare-amid-israels-war-in-gaza/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  24. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/4217 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  25. https://techcrunch.com/2013/08/15/ibm-buys-israelus-cybersecurity-specialist-trusteer-for-few-hundred-million-dollars/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  26. https://nocamels.com/2018/01/ibm-cyber-research-beersheva/ ↩ ↩2

  27. https://www.thejournal.ie/red-hat-gaza-6518227-Oct2024/ ↩

  28. https://www.ibm.com/investor/help/general-faqs ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  29. https://nocamels.com/2023/05/ibm-buys-israeli-founded-cloud-security-startup-for-60m/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  30. https://www.redhat.com/en/about/press-releases/287 ↩

  31. https://www.osnews.com/story/144776/the-disturbing-white-paper-red-hat-is-trying-to-erase-from-the-internet/ ↩

  32. https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/major-israeli-military-data-center-contract-up-for-grabs/ ↩ ↩2

  33. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/ap-exposes-big-tech-ai-systems-direct-role-in-warfare-amid-israels-war-in-gaza/ ↩

  34. https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/09/ibm_quits_facial_recognition_tech/ ↩

  35. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366586713/Storebrand-divests-from-IBM-over-supply-of-biometrics-to-Israel ↩ ↩2

  36. https://www.hcl-software.com/blog/domino/hcl-domino-software-for-the-next-decade-and-beyond/ ↩

  37. https://www.franciscopartners.com/media/Merative ↩

  38. https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/support-our-israel-associates ↩ ↩2

  39. https://theintercept.com/2024/09/04/ibm-ceo-israel-saudi-arabia-ethics/ ↩ ↩2

  40. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/ibm-corp/lobbying?id=D000000720 ↩ ↩2