INDEX / DIRECTORY / WAZE / MILITARY

Waze MILITARY

MILITARY AUDIT UPDATED 2026-09-07
Military Score 0.00 /10 A Waze - BDS-1000 864
Military 0.00

Evidence-only forensic audit. Scoring happens downstream - see the main dossier for the composite assessment.

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Direct Defence Contracting & Procurement

No public evidence identified of Waze holding a direct procurement contract, tender award, framework agreement, or MoU with the Israeli Ministry of Defence (IMOD), Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Israel Prison Service, or Israel Border Police in publicly retrieved records.1, 2, 3 No SIBAT listing, IMOD tender record, or DSCA Foreign Military Sales notification naming Waze specifically was located in the reviewed public materials.2, 4, 5 The SEC EDGAR corporate filing search returned no results for Waze Mobile Ltd.1, 6

An Israeli Government Procurement Administration record, dated approximately 2016, records an engagement with Waze Mobile Ltd. for branded map pins and pop-up messages promoting sites, activities, and attractions in peripheral areas including the Negev and Galilee.7 The retrieved record describes civilian information and marketing activity rather than a defence, IDF, prison-service, police, or border-police contract, and its term, value, amendments, and current status were not established.7

Waze maintains a documented pre-2020 operational relationship with the IDF through a consultative coordination mechanism: the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division provided Waze representatives with field tours to identify Palestinian areas where drivers frequently err, after which Waze added warning prompts at Qalandiyah, Nablus, Jenin, Gush Etzion, and Tul Karm.8 Waze confirmed this consultative relationship in August 2017 reporting by Haaretz.8 This evidence documents consultation rather than a procurement award, and its current status is unknown.8

IDF soldiers have used Waze directly in operational contexts on at least two documented occasions.9, 10 In March 2016, two soldiers drove into Qalandia refugee camp using Waze, resulting in a Palestinian fatality, and Waze confirmed that its safety mechanism had been manually disabled.9 In September 2016, two female IDF soldiers navigated into a Palestinian village in the West Bank using Waze and required rescue.10 Defence Minister Ya’alon issued standing orders against GPS-app use by IDF soldiers following the March 2016 incident.9

Waze Mobile Ltd.’s current privacy policy identifies it as an Israeli-incorporated operating entity at 98 Yigal Alon Street, Tel Aviv, Israel, while its copyright-policy page identifies an Electra Tower, 29th Floor, address at the same street number.11, 12 Earlier records place Waze Mobile Ltd., Google Israel Ltd., and Google Cloud Israel Ltd. at Electra Tower, 98 Yigal Alon, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.13, 14 The Israeli Ministry of Defence’s listed operational zone encompasses that Tel Aviv address.13

Dual-Use Products & Tactical Variants

Waze is documented as a consumer-grade GPS road-navigation application, providing directions, traffic information, road-hazard alerts, and estimated arrival times.15, 16, 17 Google Play states that Waze navigation is not intended for emergency or oversized vehicles.16 no public evidence identified of Waze manufacturing or marketing ruggedised, mil-spec, defence-grade, tactical, or military-modified variants of its navigation product, or purpose-built military navigation functionality sold to Israeli security bodies.16, 17, 18

The IDF’s March 2024 article headed “intelligence Waze” uses that term for an internally developed Military Intelligence device or platform with mapping and communications functions, rather than identifying Waze Mobile Ltd. or Google as a supplier.18

Waze maintains a documented “avoid dangerous areas” safety feature that routes Jewish Israeli drivers away from Palestinian areas in the West Bank, specifically Area A under full Palestinian Authority control; the cited reporting did not document an equivalent routing protection for Palestinian drivers approaching Israeli areas.19 Waze’s publicly editable map platform has been subject to political editing campaigns over the labelling of the West Bank barrier, with users alternately designating it “Security Fence” and “Separation Wall.”20 Waze stated that it does not take political stances and that its map data comes from users.20

No public evidence identified of a Waze-specific ECCN or EAR99 determination, BIS commodity-classification ruling, export-licence decision or application, or Israeli military/security end-user certificate.21, 22 BIS materials explain the general licensing and classification framework but do not identify Waze.21, 22 This researched public-record absence does not establish that no non-public internal classification or compliance assessment exists.21

Heavy Machinery, Construction & Infrastructure

Waze maps and provides routing for roads built to connect Israeli settlements in West Bank Area C to Israel, including newly constructed settlement-access roads.19, 23 Rest of World and Wired reporting cited in the Who Profits profile states that Waze directs users to roads in Area C that are unavailable to Palestinian drivers.19 The April 2025 Shomrim investigation quotes Yoni Danino, Head of the Settlement Administration within the Israeli Defence Ministry, linking Waze recommendations for Routes 5 and 90 through Judea and Samaria to a sovereignty objective over the West Bank.23 Shomrim documented 139 new illegal roads, approximately 116 km, built in the West Bank between mid-2023 and mid-2024, and described Waze routing as a mechanism for normalising roads used by settlers.23

Waze’s publicly editable map platform reportedly exposed IDF base locations, outposts, troop-movement patterns, patrol routes, and user-uploaded photographs of bases to editors in near real time.24 This is a platform-security finding rather than evidence of a Waze supply contract.24

No public evidence identified of Waze supplying equipment, vehicles, heavy machinery, construction, engineering, demolition, or maintenance services for settlements, checkpoints, detention facilities, the separation barrier, military bases, or settlement infrastructure.23, 24 The confirmed settlement-related relationship is navigational routing, not construction or maintenance of the roads.23

No public evidence identified of an authorised Waze reseller, distributor, franchisee, or dealer network in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights.16, 17 The publicly identified distribution channels are direct app-store listings for a free consumer application; this does not establish where individual users may download or use it.16, 17

Supply Chain Integration with Defence Primes

No public evidence identified of Waze providing components, sub-systems, specialist manufacturing services, technology transfer, licensed manufacture, co-production, or joint development with Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, or IMI/Elbit Land.4, 25, 26, 27 The 2024 SIBAT exhibition catalogue includes Israeli defence exhibitors including Rafael but does not list Waze; this is a single-event catalogue rather than a complete procurement register.4

Waze is listed as an Alphabet/Google subsidiary in the Who Profits Google LLC entry, categorised under “Settlement Enterprise,” “Population Control,” and “Economic Exploitation.”19 Under that same Google LLC entry, Project Nimbus is documented as connecting Google Cloud to Rafael, IAI/Elta, and Elbit Systems.19 The available record does not establish that Waze is operationally integrated into Project Nimbus.19, 28

TIME reported in April 2024 that a draft Google consulting contract related to an IMOD Google Cloud environment, while stating that the version reviewed was unsigned.28 The report does not identify Waze as contractor, technical provider, or beneficiary.28 Associated Press reported in February 2025 that Google Cloud’s logo appeared in an IDF technology presentation amid increased Israeli military use of third-party technology, but did not identify Waze or establish a Waze defence function.29

The “al Munasseq” Palestinian permit-management app, developed by EvenDigital and operated by COGAT/Israeli Civil Administration, is hosted on Google Play and documented under the same Google LLC Who Profits entry.30, 31, 19 The app requires access to data including IP address, device ID, geolocation, camera, and files, and its terms permit use for security purposes.30 The App Store listing identifies the developer as “Government of Israel - Ministry of Defense.”32 These records concern a separate app and do not establish Waze participation.30, 32

Waze shares its registered corporate address with Google Cloud Israel Ltd., which the existing audit identifies as a Project Nimbus counterparty.13, 14, 33, 34 This constitutes address-level and group-level attribution rather than evidence of a Waze contract or technical integration.13, 14, 33

Logistical Sustainment & Base Services

No public evidence identified of Waze providing contracted base-support, detention-facility support, catering, transport contracting, fuel supply, waste management, facilities maintenance, telecommunications, freight forwarding, shipping, or port-handling services to Israeli military or security bodies.16, 2, 18 The IMOD tender portal supports searches by tender number, keyword, and relevant-party name, but no Waze-specific tender, award, framework agreement, or MoU was located in the bounded review.2 This remains a researched absence rather than a comprehensive certification of every record in the interactive database.2

The documented IDF use of Waze in 2016 and the 2017 consultation constitute evidence of civilian-app use and consultation rather than a service contract.8, 9, 10 The platform’s reported exposure of IDF base locations and patrol routes constitutes a documented security risk arising from its map-editing architecture, not provision of logistical services.24

Munitions, Weapons Systems & Strategic Platforms

No public evidence identified of Waze manufacturing, assembling, integrating, maintaining, or acting as prime contractor or licensed manufacturer for weapons, munitions, small arms, artillery systems, armoured vehicles, tactical drones, naval vessels, missile-defence systems, military aircraft, or other lethal or strategic platforms for Israeli end-users.16, 5, 35, 26, 27 no public evidence identified of Waze supplying ammunition, explosive ordnance, chemical propellants, warhead components, munitions precursors, or weapons-calibrated subsystems.5, 35, 26

Official IMOD material identifies Rafael as prime developer of David’s Sling and IAI as manufacturer of BARAK MX, without naming Waze.35 Elbit’s February 2026 announcement concerns its own military digitisation and border-defence capabilities, not Waze.26 The DSCA major-arms-sales index is a notification resource and cannot prove the absence of every commercial arrangement, but no Waze-specific notice was located in the reviewed index.5

Alphabet/Google is documented as providing AI tools, including facial recognition, object tracking, and sentiment analysis through Vertex AI and Gemini, to IDF units through Project Nimbus.36, 37 Alphabet is named in UN A/HRC/59/23 as central to Israel’s surveillance apparatus and ongoing Gaza destruction, while Waze is not separately named in that connection.36, 37 Waze was not named in the local full-text check of A/HRC/59/23; this document-scoped result does not resolve parent-level attribution.36, 38

Export Licensing, Regulatory & Legal History

No public evidence identified of government decisions granting, refusing, suspending, or revoking export licences specifically for Waze products to Israeli military or security end-users.21, 22 no public evidence identified of Waze-specific sanctions listings, export-control enforcement, arms-embargo proceedings, or litigation concerning defence supply to Israel.22, 5, 39 The IMOD Mission to the United States confirms that IMOD conducts US foreign-military-financing procurements, but the reviewed page does not name Waze.25

Alphabet/Google more broadly has faced employee protests and internal policy conflicts concerning Project Nimbus, including the dismissal of more than 50 employees in April 2024.40 Alphabet’s board lifted its 2018 AI ethics constraints concerning weapons and surveillance applications in February 2025.40 Those parent-level developments do not establish a Waze-specific defence supply relationship.40, 28

Civil Society Scrutiny & Documented Investigations

Waze is listed as a Google LLC subsidiary in the Who Profits database, and it does not have a standalone Who Profits entry in the cited record.19 The existing audit identifies Alphabet/Google LLC in the OHCHR settlement-enterprise database through the Google LLC entry, with Waze listed as an additional Alphabet-owned company.19 Waze itself was not named in local full-text checks of the 2023 and 2025 OHCHR settlement-business database updates, A/HRC/59/23, PAX’s June 2024 report, or Al-Haq’s July 2024 report; these are document-scoped findings and do not resolve the status of Google or Alphabet.36, 38

OHCHR Special Procedures communication OTH 19/2024 named Google LLC as a recipient regarding allegations about online-platform content and Palestinian or pro-Palestinian expression.41 The communication is an allegation notice rather than a judicial or administrative finding, and it does not identify Waze or allege Waze weapons, munitions, defence-prime supply, or base-support activity.41 Google’s June 2024 response describes company-wide human-rights governance and a Human Rights Program covering Google products, but does not identify a Waze military or defence contract.42

AFSC Investigate maintains an Alphabet profile covering Project Nimbus, Vertex AI, and connections to Rafael and IAI/Elta, while Waze is not separately profiled there.43 Alphabet appears on the Don’t Buy Into Occupation database, while Waze is not separately listed in the cited entry.44 Waze is a standalone boycott target of Big Beautiful Boycott, whose rationale is anchored in Alphabet’s broader political activities rather than a verified Waze-specific military-supply relationship.45 The BDS Movement boycott guide includes Waze as a distinct company entry, and BankTrack maintains a Google LLC human-rights profile.46, 47

Alphabet/Google matches employee donations to FIDF and HaYovel through the Benevity corporate-giving platform, according to reporting based on leaked internal webpages.48, 49 FIDF supports IDF combat units and HaYovel sends volunteers to West Bank settlement farms.48, 49 Google Israel separately operated charitable giving through Benevity with a $400 per-employee allocation and encouraged donations to Israeli emergency services after October 2023.50 These are group-level charitable-giving findings, not evidence of a Waze contract or defence-product supply.48, 50

Uri Levine, Amir Shinar, and Ehud Shabtai are identified as Waze founders with Unit 8200 backgrounds in the cited baseline sources.15, 51, 52 The current corporate sources establish Google’s 2013 acquisition of Waze and Waze Mobile Ltd.’s current Israeli operating entity, but provide no evidence that those founders are current Waze or Alphabet officers, directors, controlling principals, or owners of at least 10%.11, 12, 53, 54, 55

Google announced the completed Waze acquisition on 11 June 2013, stating that the product-development team would remain in Israel and operate separately for the time being.53 Google’s FY2013 filing records completion of the acquisition of Waze Limited in June 2013 for $969 million in cash consideration, and the UK competition authority recorded Phase 1 clearance of Motorola Mobility Holding’s acquisition of Waze Mobile Limited on 11 November 2013.56, 54 Alphabet’s FY2025 significant-subsidiaries exhibit does not name Waze Mobile Ltd. and expressly omits individually non-significant subsidiaries, so the retrieved filings do not disclose the complete present intercompany ownership chain.11, 55

Alphabet’s FY2025 Form 10-K states that Larry Page and Sergey Brin beneficially owned approximately 89.3% of Class B shares and approximately 52.7% of total voting power as of 31 December 2025.54 Alphabet’s 2026 proxy identifies Sundar Pichai as Chief Executive Officer of Alphabet and Google and lists Alphabet’s board members.55, 16

At least six named Unit 8200 alumni work at Google according to the cited Powerbase database, and a separate August 2025 Drop Site News investigation documented at least 99 Google employees with Unit 8200 backgrounds through LinkedIn data.57, 58 No pre-acquisition Waze board members with disclosed defence-industry directorships, settlement-NGO affiliations, or named military-channel acts were identified in the supplied public record.52 No new direct evidence was identified linking Waze founders, executives, or their personal investment vehicles to defence-prime equity, military fundraising, or post-2024 public co-belligerency acts.51, 59, 60, 61, 52

Footnotes

  1. https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=waze&owner=include&action=getcompany ↩ ↩2

  2. https://www.online.mod.gov.il/Online2016/Pages/General/Support/balamhelp.aspx ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. https://mod.gov.il/en/departments/defense-procurement-directorate-dpd ↩

  4. https://www.sibat.mod.gov.il/Exhibitions/ADAS/Documents/ISRAEL_at_ADAS_2024.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. https://www.dsca.mil/press-media/major-arms-sales ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=waze&owner=include&action=getcompany ↩

  7. https://mr.gov.il/ilgstorefront/he/p/585263 ↩ ↩2

  8. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-08-02/ty-article/waze-consults-idf-to-prevent-misdirected-drivers-in-west-bank/0000017f-e873-df5f-a17f-fbff8fb30000 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mr/01/israeli-soldiers-waze-app-use-leads-to-deadly-fight-in-palestinian-west-bank-camp ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. https://forward.com/israel/349923/waze-mishap-leads-israeli-soldiers-into-harms-way-on-west-bank-again ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. https://support.google.com/waze/answer/12075406?hl=en ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. https://support.google.com/waze/answer/12075342 ↩ ↩2

  13. https://www.ivc-online.com/Google-Card?id=c64606cb-d305-e411-b941-80c16e7d3630 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra_Tower ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waze ↩ ↩2

  16. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000130817926000342/goog2025_courtesy-pdf.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  17. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/waze-navigation-live-traffic/id323229106 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  18. https://www.idf.il/%D7%90%D7%AA%D7%A8%D7%99-%D7%99%D7%97%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%94/%D7%9B%D7%9C-%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%99%D7%99%D7%96%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%9F-%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%93%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%9F-%D7%95%D7%95%D7%99%D7%96-%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%A8-%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%94-%D7%A6%D7%91%D7%90-%D7%A6%D7%94%D7%9C-%D7%AA%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%A7%D7%A2%D7%99-%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%95%D7%95%D7%98/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  19. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7400 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  20. https://www.timesofisrael.com/politics-drives-waze-users-to-edit-apps-israeli-map ↩ ↩2

  21. https://www.bis.gov/licensing ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  22. https://media.bis.gov/media/documents/2023.10.19-bis-faqs-exports-israel.pdf-0 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  23. https://www.shomrim.news/eng/paving-the-way-to-annexation ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  24. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/r1ik71ltje ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  25. https://www.mod.gov.il/en/departments/imod-mission-to-the-united-states ↩ ↩2

  26. https://www.elbitsystems.com/news/elbit-systems-secures-over-100-million-contracts-advance-digital-warfare-and-border-defense ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  27. https://mod.gov.il/en/press-releases/press-room/israel-mod-signs-two-major-deals-with-elbit-systems-totaling-approximately-nis-1-billion ↩ ↩2

  28. https://time.com/6966102/google-contract-israel-defense-ministry-gaza-war/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  29. https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-ai-technology-737bc17af7b03e98c29cec4e15d0f108 ↩

  30. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evendigitals.elmunasek ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  31. https://www.appbrain.com/app/almunasseq/com.evendigitals.elmunasek ↩

  32. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/al-munasiq/id1455208205 ↩ ↩2

  33. https://support.google.com/waze/answer/12075342 ↩ ↩2

  34. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Nimbus ↩

  35. https://www.mod.gov.il/en/press-releases/press-room/israel-and-greece-have-signed-the-massive-achilles-shield-agreement ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  36. https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/59/23 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  37. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/1/un-report-lists-companies-complicit-in-israels-genocide-who-are-they ↩ ↩2

  38. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/un-human-rights-office-updates-database-businesses-involved-israeli ↩ ↩2

  39. https://www.trade.gov/consolidated-screening-list ↩

  40. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_involved_in_the_Gaza_war ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  41. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TmSearch/RelCom?code=OTH%2019%2F2024 ↩ ↩2

  42. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=38469 ↩

  43. https://investigate.afsc.org/company/alphabet ↩

  44. https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/company/google-llc ↩

  45. https://bigbeautifulboycott.us/company/waze ↩

  46. https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott ↩

  47. https://www.banktrack.org/company/googlellc ↩

  48. https://www.business-humanrights.org/it/latest-news/google-allegedly-matches-donations-to-charities-supporting-israeli-soldiers-illegal-settlements ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  49. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/google-criticised-matching-donations-charities-supporting-israeli-soldiers-settlements ↩ ↩2

  50. https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/nns/google-backs-unrwa-donation-despite-oct-7-role/article_5cf0fc66-08f0-5e26-aefa-e5cf611016e3.html ↩ ↩2

  51. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Levine ↩ ↩2

  52. https://startupintros.com/orgs/waze ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  53. https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/maps/google-maps-and-waze-outsmarting/ ↩ ↩2

  54. https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/motorola-mobility-holding-waze-mobile-ltd ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  55. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  56. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000128877614000020/goog2013123110-k.htm ↩

  57. https://powerbase.info/index.php/Unit_8200 ↩

  58. https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-technology-palo-alto-networks-microsoft-unit-8200 ↩

  59. https://founders.kitchen ↩

  60. https://finder.startupnationcentral.org/investor_page/the-founders-kitchen ↩

  61. https://www.ie.edu/university/about/faculty/uri-levine ↩