Genocide Companies - Part Four - Amazon

Amazon: A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Operational and Strategic Presence in Israel

Overview of Amazon

Amazon Inc. is an American multinational technology company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. Initially launched as an online bookstore, the company rapidly expanded to encompass a vast array of product categories, earning it the moniker "The Everything Store." Its robust diversification strategy and reinvestment of profits into capital expenditures have solidified its reputation as a transformative force across industries.

As of 2023–2024, Amazon holds leading global positions, being the world’s largest online retailer and marketplace, a top provider of smart speakers, cloud computing services through Amazon Web Services (AWS), and live streaming via Twitch. It is also a leading internet company in terms of revenue and market share. Additionally, Amazon ranks as the second-largest private employer in the United States and a global leader in research and development spending.

Amazon’s Presence in Israel: A Comprehensive Analysis

Amazon’s Entry and Operational Phases in Israel

Amazon established its presence in Israel in 2014 with the opening of its first research and development (R&D) center, reflecting a strategic focus on leveraging Israel’s renowned "Startup Nation" ecosystem and its advanced technological talent to drive innovation, rather than immediately prioritizing consumer retail.

In August 2019, Amazon began efforts to encourage local and international sellers to participate in its local delivery program, positioning Israel as a potential hub for inventory storage for global sellers. On September 22, 2019, Amazon officially launched local delivery operations in Israel, offering delivery services for products from various Israeli brands with prices listed in Israeli shekels. The website was initially available in English, with plans to introduce a Hebrew version shortly thereafter.

In 2021, Amazon, in partnership with Google, secured the "Nimbus" government contract valued at 4 billion Israeli shekels (approximately $1.1 billion USD) to provide regional data centers and cloud services for Israeli government ministries and public entities. In 2023, Amazon launched the AWS Israel (Tel Aviv) Region, comprising three availability zones, significantly enhancing cloud computing capabilities in the country to support digital transformation by improving availability, performance, security, and scalability.

Amazon’s Capabilities and Economic Impact in Israel

A. Infrastructure and Investment

The AWS Israel (Tel Aviv) Region, inaugurated in 2023, serves as the cornerstone of Amazon’s infrastructure in the country. Comprising three availability zones, it provides customers with enhanced flexibility and options to utilize advanced cloud technologies, ensuring high availability and resilience for their workloads.

Amazon has committed to a substantial investment of 26.6 billion Israeli shekels (approximately $7.2 billion USD) in this region from 2023 to 2037, encompassing capital expenditures for construction and infrastructure development, as well as operational expenses for connectivity, operations, and ongoing maintenance of data center facilities. Additionally, Amazon bolstered its operational capabilities by launching a local Content Delivery Network (CDN) infrastructure for CloudFront in Israel.

B. Contribution to the Israeli Economy and Job Creation

Amazon’s investment in the AWS Israel Region is expected to yield significant economic benefits, contributing an estimated 51.7 billion Israeli shekels (approximately $13.9 billion USD) to Israel’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2023 to 2037. Beyond direct financial contributions, this investment is projected to support an average of over 7,700 full-time jobs annually within the local Israeli economy during the same period.

C. Strategic Acquisitions of Israeli Startups

In January 2015, Amazon acquired Annapurna Labs, an Israeli private chip manufacturing company, for approximately $370 million USD. Founded in 2011 by Avigdor Willenz, Annapurna Labs specialized in developing chips designed to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of server farms. In 2019, AWS acquired CloudEndure, an Israeli cloud computing startup based in Ramat Gan, for $250 million USD.

Established in 2012, CloudEndure developed specialized software for data migration to and across cloud environments with minimal downtime and no data loss, offering robust solutions for data backup and disaster recovery. Already a strategic partner of AWS since 2016, CloudEndure’s acquisition aimed to expand AWS’s portfolio of innovative and flexible solutions for migration, backup, and disaster recovery, enhancing its service offerings for global customers.

3. Amazon’s Relationship with the Israeli Defense Establishment

In March 2021, Amazon, through its Amazon Web Services (AWS) division, in collaboration with Google, secured a significant contract worth $1.22 billion USD with the Israeli government for the "Nimbus" project. This ambitious initiative aims to provide a comprehensive cloud solution for various Israeli government ministries and public entities, particularly the defense establishment, by migrating information systems to public cloud servers and granting access to advanced cloud services.

A key clause in the contract ensures service continuity even in the face of potential boycott campaigns, indicating that both companies and the Israeli government anticipated possible controversy and public pressure regarding the contract’s nature. As part of the tender requirements, Amazon established data centers in Israel in 2023, enabling local data residency and enhancing governmental control.

Through the Nimbus project, Amazon and Google provide advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities to the Israeli government. These capabilities include powerful tools such as facial recognition, automated image classification, object tracking, biometric analysis, demographic data processing, and sentiment analysis, which purportedly evaluates the emotional content of various data forms.

Reliable reports indicate that AWS’s cloud infrastructure is actively used by the Israeli military to store vast amounts of intelligence surveillance data collected on Gaza’s population, with the system’s immense scalability and “infinite storage” capacity enabling the military to retain intelligence information on “nearly every individual” in Gaza.

Military sources have provided testimonies suggesting that this extensive data stored in Amazon’s cloud was, on rare occasions, critical in confirming aerial assassination strikes in Gaza, which, according to reports, also resulted in civilian casualties.

One intelligence source described the process as “issuing orders from Amazon” to obtain information during operational tasks, using two screens, one connected to the military’s proprietary systems and the other to AWS, illustrating a deep and real-time integration of Amazon’s cloud services into military intelligence operations.

Following the events of October 7, 2023, there was a documented significant increase in the procurement of cloud services from major providers, including Google Cloud, Amazon AWS, and Microsoft Azure, by the Israeli military, facilitated primarily through the existing Nimbus contract. This reflects a heavy reliance on external cloud infrastructure for military and intelligence operations during the conflict.

Amazon’s involvement in the Nimbus project has sparked significant controversy and protests from human rights organizations and its own employees. The “No Tech for Apartheid” campaign, led by Amazon and Google employees, has vocally called for the termination of the Nimbus contract, asserting that it contributes to “systemic discrimination” and “displacement” of Palestinians and enables what they describe as Israeli “apartheid.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has formally expressed concerns about Amazon’s adherence to its own human rights principles, citing credible public reports indicating that Israeli military officials consider Amazon’s cloud technology, including AI capabilities, “critical to surveillance operations in Gaza,” which extend to include civilians.

Additionally, a June 2025 UN experts’ report explicitly named Amazon as one of several companies “pivotal in Israel’s surveillance apparatus and ongoing destruction in Gaza,” with allegations that its technology supported targeting information used in airstrikes that resulted in civilian casualties. Public records indicate that Amazon has not issued a direct response to these specific allegations regarding its potential involvement in war crimes amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The Nimbus project provides public cloud computing services and advanced AI capabilities. While these technologies have broad civilian and commercial applications, their deployment for the defense establishment and the reported specific uses for “intelligence surveillance data on Gaza’s population” and “targeting information used in airstrikes” highlight the inherent dual-use nature of advanced technology.

The inclusion of a clause ensuring service continuity despite potential boycott campaigns strongly suggests that Amazon and the Israeli government were aware of the ethical sensitivities and potential public backlash from the outset. Intelligence source statements describing “infinite storage” for intelligence data on “nearly every individual” in Gaza and the process of “issuing orders from Amazon” for information during operational tasks indicate a level of integration far beyond that of a typical commercial cloud service provider.

This suggests that AWS is not merely a passive data repository but an active, integrated, and potentially indispensable component in the Israeli military’s intelligence collection, processing, and even targeting architecture. The significant increase in service procurement post-October 7 reinforces this deep reliance, indicating that Amazon’s cloud capabilities are deemed essential for intensive military operations.

This means that AWS is not just a vendor but has become a critical enabler of the Israeli military’s advanced intelligence and operational capabilities. This deep integration positions Amazon as a significant, albeit indirect, participant in military actions, raising complex questions about corporate accountability and involvement in armed conflicts, particularly when its services are linked to controversial outcomes.

Amazon has publicly committed to “embedding respect for human rights throughout our business” through its Global Human Rights Principles. However, numerous credible reports detailing the alleged misuse of its technology for surveillance and targeting in Gaza and the West Bank, coupled with Amazon’s lack of public response to these serious allegations, create a stark and troubling contradiction.

The vocal protests from its employees further highlight this internal tension and the notable discrepancy between the company’s stated values and its operational engagements in sensitive geopolitical contexts. This makes the Nimbus project a prominent case study illustrating the inherent tension between a multinational corporation’s stated ethical commitments and the complex geopolitical realities of operating in sensitive regions.

Ethical Challenges in the Context of Gaza

Amazon’s involvement in providing advanced surveillance and targeting capabilities through the Nimbus project raises profound ethical concerns, particularly in the context of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The conflict, widely characterized as involving severe human rights violations and significant civilian casualties, has been described by some as a genocidal campaign due to the scale of destruction and loss of life.

Reports indicate that Amazon’s cloud infrastructure, which stores vast amounts of intelligence data on Gaza’s population, is linked to Israeli military operations, including airstrikes that have resulted in civilian deaths. This involvement places Amazon in a morally precarious position, as its technologies are being used in ways that may contribute to or enable actions described as war crimes by international human rights organizations and UN experts.

The absence of a direct public response from Amazon to these allegations exacerbates concerns about its commitment to its stated principles of respecting human rights, creating a stark contrast between its corporate values and its operational practices in this context.

The ethical challenges are further compounded by the scale and nature of the surveillance capabilities provided by Amazon. The use of advanced AI and machine learning tools, such as facial recognition, object tracking, and sentiment analysis, for military purposes in a conflict zone like Gaza amplifies the risk of complicity in human rights abuses.

While these tools have legitimate commercial and civilian applications, their deployment in a military context, particularly in a region experiencing a humanitarian crisis, raises questions about the dual-use nature of such technologies. Critics argue that Amazon’s failure to address these concerns transparently undermines its credibility as a socially responsible corporation.

The inclusion of a service continuity clause in the Nimbus contract, despite potential boycott campaigns, suggests a deliberate choice to prioritize business interests over ethical considerations, further intensifying the moral dilemma. The internal and external opposition, including the “No Tech for Apartheid” campaign and concerns raised by the EFF and UN experts, underscores the depth of these ethical challenges, positioning Amazon at the center of a global debate about the role of technology companies in conflict zones marked by allegations of genocide.

Amazon’s Employment Practices in Israel

Amazon maintains a comprehensive global program, publicly promoted, for hiring military veterans and their spouses, with a particular focus in the United States. The company boasts that over 45,000 veterans and their spouses are currently employed across a wide range of its operations worldwide, including critical areas such as operations, Project Kuiper, devices, robotics, global engineering services, and AWS.

Amazon’s Tel Aviv office offers numerous positions within AWS, primarily high-skill technical roles such as software development engineers, solutions architects, data scientists, machine learning scientists, and project/program managers, indicating a strong demand for specialized technical talent in its Israeli operations. Given that military service is mandatory in Israel, many high-tech professionals gain invaluable technical, leadership, and problem-solving experience in specialized Israeli military units (e.g., Unit 8200).

Considering Amazon’s focus on AWS and other technical roles in Israel, it is highly likely that a significant portion of its Israeli workforce, particularly in engineering and cloud services, consists of individuals with prior Israeli military experience. This represents an indirect form of “hiring former military personnel,” driven by the inherent structure of Israel’s talent pipeline rather than an explicit commitment to recruiting former Israeli military personnel through a dedicated corporate program.

This implies that Amazon likely benefits significantly from the highly skilled and disciplined workforce cultivated by Israel’s military-tech ecosystem, even without a specific “Israeli military veterans hiring program.” The integration of former military talent into its technological operations in Israel is likely a natural outcome of the quality and nature of the available talent pool, contributing to Amazon’s technological capabilities in the region.

Conclusion

Amazon’s presence in Israel reflects a multifaceted strategy encompassing technological innovation, e-commerce expansion, and cloud computing investment. Through its R&D centers, AWS region, and strategic acquisitions, Amazon has strengthened its position in Israel.

However, its involvement in the Nimbus project has sparked significant controversy due to the use of its technologies in military and intelligence operations, raising questions about the alignment of its operations with human rights principles. This tension highlights the ethical challenges faced by multinational corporations in sensitive geopolitical contexts, particularly amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Sources used in the report

• Amazon launches long-awaited Israeli operations | The Jerusalem Post

• Amazon Officially Announces Launch In Israel - i24NEWS

• History of Amazon - Wikipedia

• How Amazon helps data center communities thrive

• AWS Israel (Tel Aviv) Region

• The 15 biggest acquisitions in Israeli history - ISRAEL21c

• 2024-09-27 EFF letter to Amazon Final

• Google and Amazon workers protest tech giants' contract with Israel as war in Gaza continues - GeekWire

• Amazon introduces services for Israeli sellers as it grows local operations

• How Documents Reveal Google and Amazon's Involvement in Empowering 'Israel'?

• Israel's CloudEndure confirms acquisition by Amazon cloud-services unit

• How US Big Tech supports Israel's AI-powered genocide and apartheid - Al Jazeera

• Exit Nation: Israeli Startups Sell For $860 Million In First Four Weeks Of 2015 - NoCamels

• List of companies involved in the Gaza war - Wikipedia

• U.S. Military Hiring - Amazon.jobs

• Amazon, Google & Microsoft fuel Israeli military aggression in Israel's War on Gaza, investigation reveals - Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

• Tell Amazon and Google: no tech for the Israeli apartheid regime

• Amazon to invest $7.2b in Israel as it rolls out local cloud data region

• 'Order from Amazon': Tech giants storing mass data for Israel's war - +972 Magazine

• Tel Aviv, Israel - Amazon.jobs

• Google, Amazon workers demand companies cut Israel contracts - The New Arab

• Military Fellowships - Amazon.jobs

• Amazon jobs for veterans & military spouses