Head of Microsoft’s Israel branch to step down after inquiry into dealings with Israeli military

The head of Microsoft ’s Israeli subsidiary will step down in the wake of an inquiry that has scrutinised its business dealings with the Israeli military. Microsoft ordered the inquiry last year in response to a Guardian investigation revealing the military had used the company’s technology to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected Palestinian civilian phone calls on a mass scale. The joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication, +972 Magazine , and the Hebrew-language outlet, Local Call , found the military’s elite spy agency, Unit 8200, had used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store a vast trove of intercepted calls from Gaza and the West Bank. The inquiry commissioned by Microsoft is understood to have recently concluded. Its findings are unclear, however sources familiar with the situation said they prompted an announcement last week that Microsoft Israel’s general manager, Alon Haimovich, would leave the company. The Israeli business newspaper, Globes , reported on Monday that Haimovich’s departure followed a major controversy at the subsidiary relating to violations of Microsoft’s code of ethics. It reported that several other managers had also left their positions. Within weeks of launching the inquiry, Microsoft concluded that its initial findings showed Unit 8200 had violated its