Google workers protest calling on Google to stop powering the genocide in Gaza. Photo: X/@NoTechApartheid.
Negotiations between Israel’s Innovation Authority and tech giants Amazon and Google have faltered, raising concerns over the use of advanced computing technologies to further entrench the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
In a significant shift, talks between the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and tech giants Amazon and Google regarding the development of a government supercomputer have collapsed.
Following the breakdown in negotiations, the Israeli government has opened up the project to other bidders, signaling a shift toward an alternative technological partnership.
As reported by Globes, the tender for the supercomputer project is valued at NIS 290 million (approximately $79.4 million), with the winning bidder set to receive a government grant of NIS 160 million ($44 million).
Amazon and Google, both of which had previously worked with Israel on other military-linked projects, including the controversial Nimbus cloud deal, have backed out for different reasons. While Google pulled away from the tender, citing the financial unfeasibility of the project, Amazon participated but was ultimately not selected.
Despite their reluctance to move forward, the Israeli government remains intent on advancing a project aimed at developing a supercomputer capable of performing highly complex calculations—applications of which would benefit not only Israel’s academic and industrial sectors but also its military apparatus.
The supercomputer is expected to support a variety of uses, including drug development, nuclear simulations, and the creation of detailed three-dimensional models of urban environments to assist in the training of autonomous vehicles.
However, the most alarming aspect of this technology is its potential role in strengthening the Israeli occupation apparatus—particularly through enhanced surveillance of Palestinians and the continued expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.
The Sinister Implications of Project Nimbus
The failure of Amazon and Google to advance in the tender comes amid growing international outrage over their involvement in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion initiative launched in 2018 and began in earnest in May 2021.
The project, which involves both Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google, is designed to provide the Israeli government and military with cloud computing services that will enhance their ability to monitor, track, and suppress Palestinians. It is widely viewed as another tool to solidify Israel’s military occupation and apartheid system.
Project Nimbus has faced heavy criticism not only for its direct role in surveillance but also for facilitating the illegal expansion of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. The technology developed under Nimbus enables the Israeli military and government to bolster their control over Palestinian territories, by providing real-time data analysis and surveillance tools to monitor and suppress Palestinian resistance.
The project has also been used to enhance Israel’s ability to manage and expand its illegal settlements, which are consistently condemned by the international community as a violation of international law.
The technology involved in Nimbus and similar projects is part of a broader trend of military-industrial collaboration between tech giants and state entities, which activists say is directly complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.
Human rights organizations like B’Tselem, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have labeled Israel an apartheid state, a characterization that has become increasingly difficult to ignore as the Israeli government tightens its grip on Palestinian territories with the help of powerful surveillance tools.
Internal Resistance and Growing Protests
Internally, both Amazon and Google have faced growing pressure from their employees to sever ties with Israel over concerns about the ethical ramifications of working with a regime engaged in such widespread human rights abuses.
Hundreds of Google employees had signed an open letter condemning the company’s involvement in Project Nimbus, describing the contract as a direct enabler of Israel’s surveillance state and its ability to track, detain, and criminalize Palestinians.
The letter expressed outrage over the way these technological advancements were being used to support the Israeli military’s operations in Palestine, particularly as the tools developed under Nimbus are expected to enhance the Israeli state’s ability to monitor Palestinian civilians, facilitate forced evictions, and expand settlement construction.
Many signatories of the letter emphasized the chilling effect of such contracts on their moral conscience, with one former employee, Ariel Koren, speaking out publicly about her dismissal after organizing resistance to the project within Google.
These internal protests, which have extended to Amazon as well, are part of a larger, global movement to hold corporations accountable for their role in the Israeli occupation. Protests have erupted worldwide, including in the United States, where tech workers and activists have organized demonstrations to demand that Amazon and Google stop enabling Israeli military operations.
Global Boycott Movement
Project Nimbus has become a focal point for the global boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which is pushing for international companies to sever their ties with Israel due to its ongoing violations of Palestinian rights.
The goal is to prevent tech companies from profiting off systems of oppression and apartheid that subjugate Palestinians to state-sanctioned surveillance, displacement, and violence.
The companies involved in Nimbus are complicit in the Israeli government’s ongoing violations, critics argue. As the Israeli military uses these advanced technologies to deepen its control over Palestinian populations, they further entrench a system of apartheid, where Palestinians face disproportionate surveillance, violent repression, and the ongoing dispossession of their land.
In light of these ethical concerns, calls to boycott companies involved in military and surveillance contracts with Israel have gained significant traction, particularly within the tech industry. As Project Nimbus continues to evolve, it raises difficult questions for global tech giants about the moral and legal implications of their partnerships with Israel, especially given the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and Israel’s clear disregard for international law.
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Complicity of Tech Giants
As Palestinian journalist and author Ramzy Baroud has articulated in his work, tech giants like Amazon and Google are not simply engaged in neutral business transactions but are enabling Israel’s violent and discriminatory policies against Palestinians.
In his recent writings, Baroud highlighted that,
“By entering into these agreements with Israel, these companies become directly involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, supporting the military’s surveillance efforts and the expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land.”
Baroud further noted the ethical cost of such corporate partnerships, stressing that tech companies like Amazon and Google cannot claim ignorance of Israel’s apartheid regime.
“Israel’s occupation of Palestine has been in place for decades, and numerous United Nations resolutions have condemned Israel for its colonial expansion and violence against Palestinians. Yet, these companies, driven by profit, are aiding and abetting Israel’s violations of international law.”
Genocide and Increased Pressure on Corporations
The last 15 months have seen Israel carry out what many human rights groups and experts now describe as acts of genocide in Gaza, further intensifying calls for a boycott of companies that support Israel’s military and surveillance operations.
Considering the mass killings, displacement, and destruction wrought by Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza—coupled with the ongoing siege—the global pressure on Amazon, Google, and other companies to sever ties with Israel has reached a tipping point.
The involvement of these companies in Israel’s military infrastructure is viewed by activists and human rights groups as not only a violation of Palestinian rights but as direct complicity in the ongoing atrocities.
As the international community continues to decry Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupied territories, the question of whether major corporations will align their business practices with human rights or continue to profit from occupation and apartheid remains crucial.
Unseen Role of Technology in Occupation
As Israel’s plans to develop advanced technologies to control Palestinian lives continue, the role of companies like Amazon and Google cannot be understated. The supercomputing infrastructure they help create is not just for academic or industrial purposes—it is being used to strengthen Israel’s military control, expand its settlements, and deepen its surveillance of Palestinian civilians.
This breakdown in negotiations between Israel, Amazon, and Google is a momentary setback, but it does not change the underlying reality: technology is being weaponized in the service of apartheid.
As the global movement to hold these companies accountable grows, it becomes ever clearer that this technological complicity is not only a business opportunity but a direct affront to Palestinian freedom and human rights.
