Investigation reveals exciting details of secret deal between Israel and tech giants ‘Google’ and ‘Amazon’

Yemen

Yamanat

A joint investigation prepared by the “Siha Mekumit” website, the Hebrew magazine “+972” and the British newspaper “The Guardian” revealed details of a huge contract that Israel concluded with the companies “Google” and “Amazon”** in 2021, within the framework of the so-called “Nimbus” project, with an estimated value of around $1.2 billion.

According to the investigation, the contract provides for the provision of cloud computing and artificial intelligence services to all Israeli ministries, including the military, under confidential and exceptional clauses that grant Tel Aviv broad powers to access and control data.

The “wink mechanism”: a secret warning system for Israel

The leaked documents showed that Israel forced the two companies to use the so-called “wink mechanism” – a secret alert system that requires Google and Amazon to alert Israel if they are asked to hand over Israeli data to a third party.

The mechanism works through encrypted financial transfers: if the country requesting the information is the United States (its code is +1), the two companies send 1,000 shekels to Israel. If Italy (+39), convert 3,900 shekels, and so on.

While laws prevent the two companies from disclosing the requesting party, the contract requires the transfer of 100,000 shekels within 24 hours, as a secret indication that Israeli data has been passed to an external party.

Experts say these provisions could conflict with U.S. laws, putting both companies in a dilemma between adhering to the contract or complying with U.S. law.

Absolute powers and military use during war

The documents confirm that under the contract, Israel received full exemption from ethical restrictions imposed by the policies of “Google” and “Amazon”, including the ban on using their services for military activities or human rights violations.

The provisions also grant the Israeli government unrestricted freedom to use cloud technologies and artificial intelligence, without either company having the power to suspend or restrict the service.

Informed sources have confirmed that any future attempts to impose restrictions on Israel’s use of the services would be considered a breach of contract that would result in heavy financial fines.
These conditions are believed to be what prompted Microsoft to pull out of Project Nimbus, after rejecting similar conditions.

A digital relationship strengthens political influence

The American website “The Intercept” reported that the contract was designed specifically for Israel, granting it unique privileges not granted to any other party.

Although it was signed two years before the Gaza War, Israeli military operations between 2023 and 2025 have revealed the growing role of cloud technology in military operations, with the Israeli military relying heavily on services from Google and Amazon.

The commander of the Israeli army’s IT unit confirmed that these technologies gave the forces great operational efficiency in the Gaza Strip, while security reports indicated that data centers established by the two companies in Israel were indeed used during the war.

On the other hand, Google and Amazon have faced strong criticism from employees and human rights organizations who accused them of participating in supporting military operations. However, both companies denied any violation of the law or collusion with the Israeli government, while the Israeli Finance Ministry rejected the results of the investigation, emphasizing that Tel Aviv does not force any company to violate laws.

Yemen