Leaked Documents Reveal Google and Amazon’s Secret “Winking Mechanism” in $1.2B Cloud Deal with Israel

A joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call has uncovered shocking details about Project Nimbus — a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract between the Israeli government, Google, and Amazon. The leaked documents reveal that Israel demanded a covert alert system, nicknamed the “winking mechanism,” to secretly notify officials if foreign governments requested access to Israeli data.

A Covert “Winking Mechanism” to Evade Disclosure Rules

According to the documents, this “winking mechanism” allows Google and Amazon to bypass direct disclosure laws by sending coded signals to the Israeli government when foreign courts or law enforcement request data.

The system reportedly works through coded payments — each corresponding to the country code of the requesting nation:

• 🇺🇸 U.S. requests → 1,000 shekels (country code +1)

• 🇮🇹 Italy → 3,900 shekels (+39)

• 🌍 If the country must remain undisclosed → 100,000 shekels (~$30,000)

Former U.S. prosecutors and cybersecurity experts described the mechanism to The Guardian as “a legally risky but remarkably clever design.”
If true, it could enable Israel to remain informed about international data transfers without formal notification — effectively creating a shadow compliance channel.

Tech Giants Deny the Allegations

Both Google and Amazon have strongly denied the existence of such a system.

• Google: “Any claim that we violated U.S. or international legal obligations is categorically false.”

• Amazon: “We respect customer privacy and comply fully with applicable laws.”

However, internal documents from the Israeli Ministry of Finance reportedly confirm that both companies “acknowledged Israel’s sensitivities and accepted the proposed terms.”

Human Rights Clause Removed for Israel

The investigation also found that Project Nimbus includes an exemption clause preventing Google and Amazon from suspending or limiting services to Israel — even in cases of alleged human rights violations.

In other words, the “right to terminate services” due to human rights abuses, which appears in the companies’ global policies, does not apply to Israel.

An Israeli official defended the clause, telling The Guardian:

“No company should be allowed to stop providing services to Israel for political or social reasons. This contract was designed to protect our national interests.”

Microsoft Rejected the Deal — Google and Amazon Accepted

Microsoft had initially competed for the Nimbus tender but refused several of Israel’s terms, including the winking mechanism.
As a result, Microsoft lost the contract — and recently restricted the Israeli army’s access to surveillance tools used to monitor Palestinian communications.

Under the Nimbus contract, however, any similar move by Google or Amazon would be considered a breach of contract and could trigger financial penalties.

Project Nimbus: Data, Defense, and Controversy

Project Nimbus enables Israel to migrate sensitive military, intelligence, and government data to cloud infrastructure run by Google and Amazon.
The deal has drawn international criticism from human rights organizations and UN officials, particularly amid ongoing allegations of war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

The Israeli Finance Ministry told The Guardian that “Israel does not compel companies to act unlawfully,” dismissing the claims as “baseless.”

But experts argue that as long as the “winking mechanism” clause remains active, the companies will continue to face ethical and legal dilemmas over data privacy, transparency, and complicity in state surveillance.