Amazon, Google secretly tell Israel about data handed to foreign goverments
Amazon and Google incorporated a covert "winking mechanism" into their $1.2 billion Project Nimbus cloud-computing contract with the Israeli government, enabling secret notifications of data handovers to foreign authorities despite gag orders.
Leaked documents, reviewed by The Guardian in collaboration with +972 Magazine and Local Call, detail how the companies agreed to alert Israel's Ministry of Finance via coded financial transfers within 24 hours of complying with foreign requests for Israeli government or military data.
These "special compensation" payments encode the requesting country's international telephone dialing code; for U.S. authorities (+1), the transfer totals 1,000 shekels, for Italy (+39) 3,900 shekels, and for Ireland (+353) 3,530 shekels.
If legal constraints prevent revealing the country's identity, a default payment of 100,000 shekels triggers instead. This system circumvents U.S. and European laws prohibiting third-party disclosures under court orders, according to a legal opinion cited in the investigation.
The mechanism emerged from Israeli demands during Nimbus negotiations, where Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform committed to exceptional terms, including inability to suspend Israel's access for violations—unlike Microsoft's cancellation of a separate IDF Unit 8200 contract over unauthorized Palestinian surveillance.
Nimbus data resides on Israeli servers (except AI operations abroad), with arbitration for disputes and penalties for unilateral company withdrawals.
Researcher Yuval Avraham of Local Call uncovered the details, highlighting the spy-thriller-like reporting as a direct response to foreign gag mandates. The contract underscores Big Tech's tailored compliance for Israel, prioritizing notifications amid global data-sharing tensions.
Israel's Ministry of Finance dismissed the revelations as "baseless" and "agenda-driven," insisting Nimbus involves over 100 vendors under strict obligations safeguarding national interests, without disclosing terms.
Google and Amazon fired employees protesting the deal for breaching policies against political activism.
The IDF still relies heavily on Microsoft servers, vulnerable to external pressures absent in Nimbus safeguards.