On August 6, The Guardian reported that “multiple individuals have asserted that the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] is using Azure for the storage of files of phone calls obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.”  The tale began in 2021, when Microsoft, the company responsible for the Azure cloud platform that promises endless wells of data storage, endorsed a plan that would enable Unit 8200, Israel’s famed cyberwarfare agency, customised access.

The agreement, reached between the unit’s commander Yossi Sariel and Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, was a boon for mass surveillance enthusiasts.  The Guardian report, a co-investigative effort with Hebrew-language outlet Local Call and Israeli-Palestinian publication 972 Magazine, drew from leaked documents and 11 interviews from the corporation and the Israeli intelligence services.

Nadella offered the fool’s defence, claiming ignorance at what Unit 8200 was hoping to store.  A cursory look at the profile of Sariel’s outfit would have dispelled any doubts, suggesting that the chief executive was telling a massive fib.  Three Unit 8200 sources, for instance, noted that Azure was used to facilitate “the preparation of deadly airstrikes and has shaped military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.”  While Israel has long exercised control over the telecommunications infrastructure of the Palestinians, the cloud platform offered an indiscriminate netting of cellular calls.

The company’s thick links to Israel has drawn........

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