McKinsey & Company

Key Findings

• Economic: McKinsey has operated in Israel since 2000 and in January 2023 acquired Tel Aviv-based AI/ML company Iguazio, bringing more than 70 data and AI specialists into McKinsey and establishing what the firm later described as an integrated QuantumBlack AI R&D centre in Tel Aviv.^{1, 2, 3}
• Military: McKinsey directly advised Israel’s Ministry of Defense and IDF on procurement, construction, maintenance and efficiency under a 2008-era engagement. That direct relationship is historical. Separately, senior partner David Chinn joined the board of Ondas Autonomous Systems in March 2026; while he held that outside board seat, the separate Ondas/OAS group announced Israeli Ministry of Defense programs including an August 2026 tactical attack-drone award.^{4, 5, 6, 7}
• Political: Former Israel managing partner David Chinn stated in 2025 that the Israel office had undertaken pro-bono work for “many institutions” during the post-7 October period and described its role in supporting and rebuilding Israel. The audit did not establish the recipients as government or military bodies, or identify a state-backed campaign or official national partnership.⁸
• Not found: No public evidence identified of a current McKinsey technology product deployed to an Israeli military, intelligence or settlement customer, of a renewed 2023–26 MOD/IDF consulting contract, or of McKinsey operating in an Israeli settlement. McKinsey was also not identified in the reviewed OHCHR settlement-business material.^{9, 10, 11}

Target Profile

Key Facts:

• McKinsey says its Israel office was founded in 2000 and remains active in Tel Aviv.¹
• McKinsey describes itself as a single global partnership, with the Shareholders Council serving as the board of McKinsey & Company, Inc.¹⁴
• McKinsey acquired Iguazio in January 2023 and later described Tel Aviv as one of QuantumBlack’s AI R&D centres.^{2, 3}
• No McKinsey operation in an Israeli settlement was identified in the audited record, and the reviewed OHCHR materials did not identify the firm.⁹

Executive Summary

McKinsey & Company’s documented Israel nexus is substantial but uneven across the four audited domains. The clearest current corporate link is economic: McKinsey maintains an active Tel Aviv practice serving major sectors of Israel’s economy and directly acquired Israeli AI company Iguazio in January 2023. The acquisition brought a team of more than 70 data and AI specialists into McKinsey and became an ongoing QuantumBlack AI R&D capability in Israel.^{1, 13, 2, 3} This direct, continuing operation drives the dossier’s highest domain score, Economic 7.20.

The military record contains both direct historical activity and a more attenuated contemporary senior-partner/board nexus. McKinsey won an Israeli Ministry of Defense engagement in 2008 and advised on IDF/MOD procurement, construction, maintenance, logistics and efficiency. Israeli records and McKinsey’s own publications document implementation of those recommendations, but the audits found no substantiated post-2020 renewal of that direct engagement.^{4, 5, 18} In March 2026, McKinsey senior partner David Chinn joined the board of the separate Ondas Autonomous Systems defence group. During his board tenure, Ondas announced Israeli MOD-linked programs including a $10 million initial border-demining order and a multi-million-dollar August 2026 “Digital Bat” award to develop and produce tactical attack drones.^{6, 19, 7} The audit expressly found no evidence that McKinsey negotiated, supplied or performed those Ondas-announced group programs, or that Chinn personally approved the awards.

The political record is driven primarily by McKinsey Israel’s own post-7 October activity. In a 2025 leadership-handover statement, Chinn said the office had performed pro-bono work for “many institutions” and described McKinsey’s role in supporting and rebuilding Israel.⁸ The recipients, values and deliverables were not publicly identified, and the audit found no evidence establishing an Israeli government body, military beneficiary, state-backed campaign or named national institution sufficient to characterize this as an official state partnership. Separately, two McKinsey partners supported the Palestine Emerging reconstruction initiative in 2024, but reporting explicitly described their participation as personal rather than on behalf of McKinsey.^{20, 21}

The digital audit produced a zero score. McKinsey’s current Israeli technology footprint includes Iguazio and enterprise relationships with Israeli-origin or Israel-linked cybersecurity companies, but the audit found no qualifying McKinsey digital technology supplied to an Israeli military, intelligence or settlement body.^{3, 11} Airis Labs had assisted Israeli security forces with visual-intelligence analysis after 7 October 2023, but the record only establishes Chinn as an investor in May 2026 and does not establish that he invested before the 2023 deployment or that the Israeli-state deployment continued after his investment.^{22, 23} Under the fixed, human-vetted V6.5 methodology, the combined result is BRS 666, Tier B (Severe Complicity).

Timeline of Relevant Events

Corporate Overview

McKinsey describes itself as a single global private partnership. McKinsey & Company, Inc. is identified as a New York corporation owned by partners and senior partners worldwide, while the Shareholders Council functions as the parent company’s board.^{12, 14} The audits found no Israeli state ownership, golden share or identified Israeli controlling capital block.

The firm’s Israel office has operated since 2000 and is currently based in Tel Aviv. McKinsey says the practice works across major sectors of Israel’s economy, including aerospace and defence, public sector, infrastructure, financial services and technology.^{1, 13} Yaniv Lushinsky is identified as managing partner of the Israel office, while David Chinn remains a Tel Aviv senior partner after serving as Israel managing partner from 2021 through 2025.^{15, 16}

McKinsey’s principal controlled Israeli technology asset identified by the audits is Iguazio. McKinsey acquired the Tel Aviv AI/ML company in January 2023, describing the transaction as its first acquisition in Israel. The company said Iguazio’s technology and more than 70 data and AI specialists would form the foundation of a QuantumBlack location in Israel; subsequent McKinsey material says Iguazio is integrated into QuantumBlack and identifies Tel Aviv as one of five AI R&D centres.^{2, 3} The acquisition therefore represents direct corporate operation rather than an arm’s-length vendor relationship.

Third-party corporate-data service KYC Israel reports MCKINSEY & CO. ISRAEL TEL-AVIV (2002) LTD as active; this is corroborative third-party data, not an official registry extract.²⁷ Separately, a historical government procurement record names McKinsey & Company, Inc. Israel as the Tax Authority’s supplier.²⁸ The two differently named records are not treated as proof of one legal entity. The freely accessible material reviewed did not establish the current direct shareholder schedule of the company named by KYC Israel.²⁷

No specific McKinsey branch, project, real-estate operation, sale or service in an Israeli settlement was established. McKinsey was not identified in the reviewed OHCHR settlement-business database materials or the other settlement-company lists examined by the audits.⁹

Domain Summaries

Military: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

McKinsey’s strongest direct military-state relationship is historical. Israel’s Ministry of Defense contracted the firm in 2008 to develop an IDF streamlining and efficiency program. Israeli reporting and State Comptroller material document recommendations covering procurement, construction and maintenance, with subsequent implementation inside the defence establishment.^{4, 5} McKinsey’s own defence publication described integrated IDF/MOD procurement teams, category management covering specifications, quantities, negotiations, stocks, storage and distribution, and an initiative aimed at savings equal to approximately 2 percent of the defence budget.¹⁸

The current nexus used in the fixed V6.5 military scoring is a contemporaneous personnel/board link. The audited evidence does not establish Chinn as a McKinsey controlling principal under Principle 4. David Chinn remained a McKinsey senior partner when he joined the board of Ondas Autonomous Systems in March 2026.^{6, 26} Ondas describes the OAS group as operating autonomous defence and security businesses. After Chinn joined the board, Ondas announced an Israeli Ministry of Defense-linked border-demining program in April 2026 and an August 2026 multi-million-dollar “Digital Bat” award to develop and produce tactical attack-drone capabilities for frontline use.^{19, 7}

The examiner-adjudicated Military score treats that contemporaneous Ondas-announced tactical attack-drone program within the Ondas/OAS group as the qualifying lethal-platform result and Chinn’s McKinsey/OAS dual role as the relevant proximity nexus. The underlying factual audit, however, draws a strict attribution boundary: OAS and its Israeli subsidiaries are separate from McKinsey, and neither award announcement identifies McKinsey or Chinn as negotiating, approving, supplying or performing the contract.^{6, 26, 19, 7}

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The strongest defence is that McKinsey’s verified direct Israeli military engagement is old. The audits found no named renewal, tender or award showing that the 2008–2011 IDF/MOD consulting relationship continued into the 2023–26 Gaza-war period.^{4, 5} Chinn’s current McKinsey biography describes government, armed-forces and defence-industrial work particularly in Europe and private-sector work in Israel; it does not identify a current Israeli state-defence client.¹⁶

McKinsey is also not shown to manufacture weapons, drones, munitions or military hardware. No public evidence identified a McKinsey tactical product, Israeli military export licence, current IDF supply contract or McKinsey role in manufacturing the OAS systems.¹³ The OAS link is a discounted personnel/board connection to a separate defence group. The audited record does not establish the exact contracting legal entity for the Digital Bat award, a Chinn seat on the Ondas Inc. parent board, or a personal role in that award; it does not establish McKinsey as the platform supplier.^{6, 26, 7}

Similarly, Chinn’s personal Helsing shareholding is an individual investment rather than McKinsey ownership. Reporting concerning an introduction between Helsing and an Israeli MOD official did not establish a McKinsey-Helsing contract or an Israeli procurement channel operated by McKinsey.¹⁷

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Digital: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

McKinsey has a substantial Israeli technology footprint, but the audit found no qualifying digital-security result within the closed V6.5 lens. Its current subprocessor disclosure identifies Eon, Palo Alto Networks and Wiz as providers of backup, security-operations and cloud-security services.¹¹ Those are current corporate technology relationships, but the audited use is civilian enterprise infrastructure and security rather than provision of digital capability to Israeli state-security bodies.

McKinsey’s acquisition of Iguazio created an ongoing Israeli AI engineering and R&D operation, but the audited record does not identify Iguazio, QuantumBlack or another McKinsey AI platform as deployed to the Israeli government, MOD, IDF, intelligence services or police.^{2, 3}

Airis Labs presents the closest potential security-intelligence connection. Public reporting establishes that Airis assisted with large-scale visual-intelligence analysis after 7 October 2023 and that its system was used in work supporting Israeli security forces, including hostage-location and militant-activity analysis.^{22, 23, 29} The audit, however, establishes Chinn’s investment only in the May 2026 financing announcement. It does not establish that he invested before the October 2023 assistance, nor does it establish continued Israeli-state deployment after his investment.^{22, 23} That chronology is the decisive reason the fixed Digital score is zero.

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

No public evidence identified that McKinsey develops or supplies offensive cyber tools, zero-day exploits, biometric surveillance, autonomous targeting, fire-control systems or digital weapons to Israeli authorities. The Iguazio platform is described as a general-purpose AI/MLOps product rather than a purpose-built military targeting system.^{2, 3}

McKinsey also did not win the central Project Nimbus consulting role examined by the audit. Contemporary reporting said KPMG’s Somekh Chaikin won the relevant policy/governance consulting tender, beating McKinsey and other firms.¹⁰

The vendor relationships with Wiz, Palo Alto Networks and Eon do not establish Israeli state access to McKinsey data. McKinsey’s public disclosure did not identify Israel as the listed processing location for Wiz or Palo Alto Networks, and the audit found no evidence of Israeli data residency arising from those relationships.¹¹

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Economic: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

McKinsey has a direct and continuing operating presence in Israel. Its Israel office dates to 2000, and the firm’s current material says it works across all major sectors of the Israeli economy.^{1, 13} The economic nexus became materially deeper in January 2023 when McKinsey acquired Iguazio, a Tel Aviv AI and machine-learning company.²

McKinsey said Iguazio’s technology and more than 70 specialists would form the foundation of a new QuantumBlack location in Israel. Later corporate material states that Iguazio is integrated into QuantumBlack and that Tel Aviv is one of five AI R&D centres.^{2, 3} This is the governing Economic fact: McKinsey directly controls and operates an ongoing core AI R&D capability in Israel rather than merely purchasing services from an outside Israeli supplier.

The broader Israel practice publishes Israel-specific economic research, advises Israeli businesses and has supported parts of the startup ecosystem.^{13, 30, 31} The audits document historical Tax Authority consulting and a Tel Aviv metro study, but those projects were pre-2020 and were not treated as current engagements.^{28, 32}

At the same time, McKinsey has documented Palestinian economic-development work. The Portland Trust told the UK Parliament that McKinsey assisted long-term Palestinian private-sector growth research, and later reporting described two McKinsey partners participating personally in Palestine Emerging/PREP.^{25, 20, 21}

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The economic audit did not identify an Israeli controlling shareholder, Israeli state equity stake, Israeli sovereign-debt financing role, settlement-linked supply chain, Israeli factory, physical-goods manufacturing plant or settlement operation.^{12, 14, 9} McKinsey’s presence is principally professional services and technology/R&D.

No public evidence identified that Iguazio itself serves the IDF, Israeli defence sector, settlements or critical infrastructure. Its inclusion in Economic rests on direct McKinsey ownership and sustained Israeli R&D activity, not on an inferred military customer.^{2, 3}

The reviewed OHCHR settlement-business database and Special Rapporteur material did not identify McKinsey.^{9, 33} Those negative checks are not proof that every conceivable commercial link is absent, but they prevent the dossier from characterizing McKinsey as a verified settlement operator.

The audits found no public Israel-specific revenue, profit, tax-paid or profit-repatriation figures in the reviewed reporting and corporate data.^{12, 27} The scale assessment therefore relies on the continuing R&D centre, more than 70 specialists at the 2023 acquisition and direct integration into McKinsey; the acquisition-time team size is not a current Israel-office headcount.^{2, 3, 34}

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Political: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

The strongest current political-domain evidence is McKinsey Israel’s own description of its post-7 October pro-bono activity. In a 2025 leadership-handover post, David Chinn said the Israel office had made pro-bono contributions to “many institutions,” particularly over the preceding two years, while describing the office’s role in supporting and rebuilding Israel.⁸ The fixed examiner-adjudicated Political score treats that multi-year program and explicit institutional support framing as affirmative corporate institutional legitimation.

The audited record does not establish an official state partnership. Chinn’s statement does not name the recipient institutions, disclose monetary value or identify a ministry, IDF unit, military-welfare body or state-backed campaign.⁸ This distinction controls the score rationale: the evidence supports sustained corporate activity framed around Israel’s support and rebuilding, but not a stronger claim that McKinsey formally partnered with the Israeli government or military.

McKinsey’s historic political/state nexus includes the pre-2020 MOD/IDF work and Tax Authority consulting. Those historical engagements provide context but are temporally separated from the post-2023 pro-bono program.^{4, 28}

The record also contains contrary evidence. McKinsey supported Palestinian economic-development research before 2020, and in 2024 partners Eric Hazan and David Meredith supported Palestine Emerging/PREP, explicitly in their personal capacities rather than McKinsey’s name.^{25, 20, 21}

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The focused audit searches found no substantiated McKinsey corporate donations to the IDF, FIDF, settlement organizations or Israeli military-welfare bodies, or sponsorship of settlement events or a “Brand Israel” campaign in the reviewed record.^{1, 8, 35} The reviewed governance disclosures did not establish Israeli state equity or governance rights.^{12, 14} The FEC committee overview and specific LD-2 filing reviewed did not establish Israel/Palestine-specific corporate lobbying; this does not imply an absence of McKinsey federal lobbying generally.^{36, 37}

The 2025 pro-bono statement is materially underspecified. Without named recipients or deliverables, it cannot be converted into evidence of free services to the IDF, a government ministry or military logistics operation.⁸

No public evidence identified in the reviewed sources of McKinsey disciplining employees for pro-Palestinian speech.^{38, 39} The Washington Post reported a third-party website listing employees across multiple companies; it did not establish that McKinsey created the list or punished the employees named on it.³⁸

The audits also corrected a potentially serious wrong-entity attribution: the 2025 Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and post-war Gaza modelling controversy involved Boston Consulting Group. BCG’s own account identifies BCG personnel and disavows unauthorized later work; the audited record did not establish McKinsey involvement.⁴⁰

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Complicity Index Score

Method: V6.5.

• V_MAX: 7.20 Avg_OTHERS: 3.97
• BRS Score: 666 Tier: B (Severe Complicity)

Economic supplies the V_MAX because McKinsey directly acquired and continues to operate the Iguazio/QuantumBlack AI R&D capability in Israel. Military is driven by the examiner-adjudicated contemporaneous nexus between McKinsey senior partner David Chinn’s OAS board role and the Ondas-announced Israeli MOD tactical attack-drone program within the separate Ondas/OAS group, while Political reflects McKinsey Israel’s multi-year institutional pro-bono activity; Digital remains zero because the audited technology evidence did not establish a qualifying McKinsey-linked digital-security result within the required chronology.

The V6.5 method is scale-free and evidence-only: Impact evaluates the type of activity, Magnitude its scale, and Proximity the directness of the target’s relationship to the qualifying activity. The figures above are the fixed, human-vetted values and are not recalculated in this dossier.

Methodology Note

• The dossier uses only evidence established in the four completed Military, Digital, Economic and Political audits and preserves their qualification of unresolved, historical and negative findings.
• V6.5 is scale-free: Impact (I) reflects the type and severity of the qualifying activity, Magnitude (M) its scale, and Proximity (P) the directness of the target’s relationship to it.
• Temporal status matters. Divested, expired or historical activity is identified as such and is not automatically treated as continuing; this is why the 2008–2011 MOD/IDF engagement is distinguished from current activity.
• Entity attribution is non-transitive. Conduct by OAS, Airis, Helsing, BCG or individual partners is attributed to McKinsey only to the extent the audited evidence establishes the relevant corporate, personnel, board or investment connection, with its documented limits. The discounted Chinn/OAS link does not establish a controlling McKinsey principal under Principle 4.
• A verified settlement operation can engage both economic and political dimensions under the methodology, but no McKinsey settlement operation was established here.
• “No public evidence identified” is used where focused audit checks found no substantiated evidence; it denotes a searched evidentiary absence rather than proof that an event is impossible or never occurred.