Leaked Nimbus cloud pact linking Israel with Google and Amazon

In a 2021 deal valued at about 1.2 billion shekels, Google and Amazon agreed to supply cloud and artificial intelligence services to Israel under terms that, according to leaked Israeli Finance Ministry documents, included a covert notification system and strict limits on the companies’ ability to restrict Israeli use of their platforms. The agreement, known as Project Nimbus, covers government and military customers and runs for an initial seven years with the option of extension.

The documents describe a so‑called winking mechanism designed to alert Israeli authorities when foreign law enforcement or courts obtain access to Israeli data stored on the companies’ cloud systems but have barred the provider from notifying the customer. Under the arrangement the companies would make coded payments to Israel within 24 hours of turning over data. Payment amounts would correspond to the telephone country code of the requesting state, producing sums typically between 1,000 and 9,999 shekels, with a fallback payment of 100,000 shekels if gag orders prevented identifying the country.

The contract also contains clauses that, according to the documents, bar the providers from suspending or...