GoKawiilLast week Microsoft Israel, the local marketing and sales office of the US software giant, announced the departure of Country General Manager Alon Haimovich after four years in the job. Behind the dry announcement is major controversy. Haimovich left his position after an investigation by Microsoft's global management into Microsoft Israel’s work with the Ministry of Defense, amid concern that the company's code of ethics had been violated. Several managers in Microsoft Israel’s governance department have also left their positions.
Microsoft Israel has been left without a country general manager, and "Globes" has learned that the global management has decided that for the time being Microsoft Israel will be managed directly by Microsoft France.
Several weeks ago, an investigation team from Microsoft arrived in Israel to examine the center's activities, and in particular the work of the sales department responsible for working with Israel’s Ministry of Defense, "Globes" has learned. Haimovich was also summoned to the investigative committee due to a claim that Israel’s management did not conduct itself with full transparency regarding the manner in which the Ministry of Defense uses Microsoft's systems.
It is believed that Microsoft was concerned that under the contract with the Ministry of Defense there were units that were operating in a non-transparent way that violated its terms of use, and which exposed it to legal and regulatory risks in Europe. Since Microsoft is not a franchisee in the official government cloud tender "Nimbus", part of its use by the Ministry of Defense, according to "The Guardian," is performed by servers on European soil.
The dispute with IDF Unit 8200 is only the tip of the iceberg
Unlike Nimbus franchisees Google and Amazon, Microsoft has not agreed to extensive use of its technology by the security forces in Israel or other countries - such as for gathering data about users and using this information to harm those involved in terrorism.
In September 2025, Microsoft decided to unilaterally terminate the usage agreement with IDF intelligence Unit 8200 after an article published in the UK newspaper "The Guardian," which claimed that the unit was collecting information about Palestinians for the purpose of fighting terrorism. However, Unit 8200’s work was apparently only the tip of the iceberg, and following the investigation and protests that erupted in its wake, Microsoft's offices in Redmond, Washington, continued to investigate with Haimovich and his team, use by additional units
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The investigation revealed not only usage patterns that the company claims violate Microsoft's terms, but also conduct that they allege was not transparent towards global management, and damages trust in the Israeli branch's management and in a way that violated the Ministry of Defense’s trust in working with Microsoft, according to a source in the software market familiar with the affair. Microsoft Israel, which until now was subordinate to the regional management in Dubai, has now been transferred to operate under the responsibility of Microsoft France, until a permanent country general manager is appointed for Microsoft Israel.
Microsoft's move: "Insisting on the principle"
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