Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#51

Post by yodsanklai » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:52 PM UTC

bhouston wrote: post #16

noworriesnate wrote: post #5

TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds: > Among the cloud giants, Microsoft is considered the most vulnerable to anti-Israel protests and allegations of the use made by the Ministry of Defense on Azure, its cloud platforms, since it is the only company among the three major cloud companies that has not signed a special agreement with the Israeli government and the Ministry of Defense.…

> TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds This is a good thing. American companies should not be allowing their tech to be used to in the gross ongoing human rights violations in Israel/Gaza/West Bank. Google and Amazon knew their tech could be used for human rights abuses in Israel (their lawyers warned them so) but ignored that in favour of $$$ per the EFF: https://www.eff.org/deepli…

> American companies should not be allowing their tech to ...

Do they have a choice?

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#52

Post by constantius » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:52 PM UTC

hersko wrote: post #19

dpoloncsak wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Nope [1], they actually hosted a 5k in Gaza. Can you imagine Holocaust survivors or Armenians during the genocide taking part in a 5k? I can't. Also, it is definitely not "by any modern definition" a genocide. Ireland is currently trying to broaden the definition of the term just to indict Israel [2] [1] https://ca.news.yahoo.com/palestine-marathon-returns-gaza-we... [2] https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/409187

Holocaust survivors did have art/dance/theatre events, and soccer/boxing competitions. In ghettos and in concentration camps. This was viewed as a triumph of the human spirit over the horrors of Nazism. These events are celebrated in countless books by survivors, exhibitions, and art installations. I dare you to find one survivor's account that does not mention these events.

>90% of Gaza's infrastructure is destroyed, >90% of the population is displaced, no universities left, only one hospital with no equipment. These numbers are from several months ago, so you'll excuse me if I'm not keeping up with Israel's killing frenzy.

That Gazans still can make art, enjoy a coffee, and do a 5k to raise awareness in a world that doesn't care is seen as victory over darkness by those who are caring about this catastrophe.

Those who don't know anything about anything and use the smile of a child to screech "not a genocide!" should be ashamed of themselves.

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#53

Post by george916a » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:53 PM UTC

bhouston wrote: post #16

noworriesnate wrote: post #5

TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds: > Among the cloud giants, Microsoft is considered the most vulnerable to anti-Israel protests and allegations of the use made by the Ministry of Defense on Azure, its cloud platforms, since it is the only company among the three major cloud companies that has not signed a special agreement with the Israeli government and the Ministry of Defense.…

> TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds This is a good thing. American companies should not be allowing their tech to be used to in the gross ongoing human rights violations in Israel/Gaza/West Bank. Google and Amazon knew their tech could be used for human rights abuses in Israel (their lawyers warned them so) but ignored that in favour of $$$ per the EFF: https://www.eff.org/deepli…

[flagged]

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#54

Post by megabless123 » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:53 PM UTC

frumplestlatz wrote: post #42

bhouston wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds This is a good thing. American companies should not be allowing their tech to be used to in the gross ongoing human rights violations in Israel/Gaza/West Bank. Google and Amazon knew their tech could be used for human rights abuses in Israel (their lawyers warned them so) but ignored that in favour of $$$ per the EFF: https://www.eff.org/deepli…

[flagged]

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-c...

GENEVA – Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report today. The Commission urges Israel and all States to fulfil their legal obligations under international law to end the genocide and punish those responsible for it.

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#55

Post by noworriesnate » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:53 PM UTC

hersko wrote: post #7

noworriesnate wrote: post #5

TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds: > Among the cloud giants, Microsoft is considered the most vulnerable to anti-Israel protests and allegations of the use made by the Ministry of Defense on Azure, its cloud platforms, since it is the only company among the three major cloud companies that has not signed a special agreement with the Israeli government and the Ministry of Defense.…

[flagged]

Being anti-Israel is a bipartisan position in the US among the constituents but not among the representatives (yet)

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#56

Post by bhouston » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:53 PM UTC

For those that do not know, this is part of the fallout of this Microsoft investigation from 2025 into the misuse of Azure services in Israel for military purposes:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/09/microsoft-blo...

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#57

Post by george916a » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

shimman wrote: post #34

noworriesnate wrote: post #5

TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds: > Among the cloud giants, Microsoft is considered the most vulnerable to anti-Israel protests and allegations of the use made by the Ministry of Defense on Azure, its cloud platforms, since it is the only company among the three major cloud companies that has not signed a special agreement with the Israeli government and the Ministry of Defense.…

That must explain why the "least" friendly MSFT asked the FBI to spy on employees attending pro-Gaza/anti-genocide protests: https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/microsof... Good grief. Let's maybe not parrot out nation state propaganda with zero critical thinking on what's being said.

[flagged]

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#58

Post by catigula » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:58 PM UTC

frumplestlatz wrote: post #42

bhouston wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds This is a good thing. American companies should not be allowing their tech to be used to in the gross ongoing human rights violations in Israel/Gaza/West Bank. Google and Amazon knew their tech could be used for human rights abuses in Israel (their lawyers warned them so) but ignored that in favour of $$$ per the EFF: https://www.eff.org/deepli…

[flagged]

Incorrect.

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#59

Post by drnick1 » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:58 PM UTC

bhouston wrote: post #16

noworriesnate wrote: post #5

TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds: > Among the cloud giants, Microsoft is considered the most vulnerable to anti-Israel protests and allegations of the use made by the Ministry of Defense on Azure, its cloud platforms, since it is the only company among the three major cloud companies that has not signed a special agreement with the Israeli government and the Ministry of Defense.…

> TIL that Microsoft is the least Israel-friendly of the big three clouds This is a good thing. American companies should not be allowing their tech to be used to in the gross ongoing human rights violations in Israel/Gaza/West Bank. Google and Amazon knew their tech could be used for human rights abuses in Israel (their lawyers warned them so) but ignored that in favour of $$$ per the EFF: https://www.eff.org/deepli…

[flagged]

Re: Microsoft Israel chief leaves amid ethical controversy

#60

Post by _alternator_ » Mon, May 11, 2026, 6:59 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #47

_alternator_ wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... "statements from leaders that suggest genocidal intent" ... meets the genocide bar, yes? I'll just quote wikipedia: The Gaza genocide is the ongoing,[19][20] intentional, and systematic destruction of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip carried out by Israel during the Gaza war. It encompasses mass killings, deliberate starvation, infliction of serious bodily and mental harm, and prevention of births. Othe…

There are certainly people involved in the Israeli government that have expressed genocidal intent. The problem is that you can say that about basically every state in the world. It can't be the case that the moment a state commits an ethnically-targeted war crime it is per se committing genocide because you can find someone in the majority, the opposition, or the administrative state that has embraced genocidal logi…

I'm no genocide expert, but it does seem like legal scholars who _are_ genocide experts agree that the facts here seem to clearly meet the bar. The people who you credit with "hav[ing] the better side of the legal argument" do not seem, from my vantage, to be arguing in good faith. They are trying to bog us down in semantics when a truly horrifying crime is happening, and saying that we can't call a horse a horse is not helping.

I'll also say this: I greatly sympathize with Israel and Jews more generally here. The problem at the core remains global antisemitism; it's the reason Israel needed (and still needs!) to exist, and the reason Jews globally feel threatened. Antisemitism in the middle east is particularly pernicious, but it's not much better in Europe or the Americas. It doesn't just feel like a dangerous wolrd for Jews, it _is_ a dangerous world.

That doesn't change my opinion about the situation in Gaza---there's ample evidence that it's a genocide. But I hope this helps people see that we can, and should, hold these two truths at once. Jews are persecuted, and are in a precarious situation globally. In fear and in anguish, the state of Israel is performing unconscionable deeds in Gaza. A central cause is antisemitism; if we could somehow find a solution to that, you'd go a long way towards solving the whole conflict in the middle east. But good luck.