Google is supplying cloud computing services to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and the tech giant has negotiated to deepen its collaboration during Israel’s conflict in Gaza.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense possesses its own designated “landing zone” within Google Cloud—an exclusive entry point to Google’s computing infrastructure. This setup enables the ministry to store and process data, as well as access AI services securely.
In a draft contract dated March 27, 2024, the ministry sought consulting assistance from Google to expand its access to Google Cloud, aiming to grant access to “multiple units” for automation technologies. The contract reveals Google billing the Israeli Ministry of Defense over $1 million for the consulting service.
In a report by TIME Magazine, as part of the arrangement, Google extended a 15% discount on the original consulting fees due to the “Nimbus framework,” which refers to a controversial $1.2 billion cloud computing and AI agreement between the Israeli government, Google, and Amazon. While previous reports indicated that Google and Amazon were contractually restricted from preventing specific Israeli state entities from utilizing their technology under Project Nimbus, this is the first time the existence of a contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defense as a Google Cloud customer has been disclosed.
Google has clarified that its involvement with the Israeli government primarily focuses on civilian purposes, targeting sectors like finance, healthcare, transportation, and education. However, recent reports in the Israeli media suggest that the military, under the Ministry of Defense, may be employing an AI-powered system for targeting air-strikes on Gaza, potentially necessitating cloud computing infrastructure.
The contract does not specify whether Google Cloud is being utilized for military applications, and there is no evidence to suggest its use for targeting purposes. However, Google employees mentioned that the company has limited visibility into what customers, particularly sovereign nations like Israel, do on its cloud infrastructure.
The contract outlines the Ministry of Defense’s endeavor to onboard additional units to Google Cloud as “phase 2” of a broader project to expand its cloud architecture. Although the document does not explicitly detail phase one, it refers to previous work carried out by Google on behalf of the ministry. The consulting services provided by Google are aimed at assisting with architecture design, implementation guidance, and automation for the Ministry of Defense’s Google Cloud landing zone, with an estimated duration of one calendar year starting from April 14.
