According to The Guardian, Israel made an unusual request from the tech giants in this deal: the companies agreed to establish a special "wink mechanism" to secretly notify Israel about data requests coming from foreign courts.
Leaked documents and statements from Israeli officials suggest that this system allows Google and Amazon to convey a secretive signal when data stored by Israel is requested by foreign country courts or security agencies, without directly disclosing the sharing.
This signal is sent via small payments described as "special compensatory payments." The amount paid is determined based on the telephone code of the country requesting the data.
For example, a request from the US (+1) would result in a payment of 1,000 shekels, and a request from Italy (+39) would lead to a payment of 3,900 shekels.
If the companies are unable to even disclose to which country they have transferred data, they are required to make a "feedback" payment of 100,000 shekels (approximately $30,000).
Legal experts argue that this method is extremely risky from a legal standpoint. Former US prosecutors stated, "This mechanism could violate the confidentiality of court orders and potentially expose the companies to risks of conflicting with US laws."
The Journal of Physiology published a study demonstrating that flavanol can prevent vascular stiffness induced by sitting, even in individuals who exercise regularly. It was observed that prolonged sitting impairs vascular function.
Researcher Dr. Catarina Rendeiro mentioned, "Consuming flavanol-rich foods and beverages during long periods of sitting is an effective way to mitigate the negative effects of inactivity on the vascular system." PhD student Alessio Daniele, noting that cocoa products high in flavanol are available in supermarkets and health stores, added, "If you don't like cocoa, apples, plums, blueberries, nuts, and black and green tea also offer similar benefits."
Documents also show that in addition to accepting this secretive system, Google and Amazon complied with other demands of Israel. According to the agreement known as the "Nimbus Project," the companies:
Cannot intervene in how Israel's government agencies, security services, and military use cloud services, cannot suspend or restrict service access, cannot terminate services on grounds of human rights violations.
These clauses resurfaced after Microsoft last month shut down a system the Israeli army used to track Palestinian civilians' phones.
Microsoft defended this step, stating, "We do not want to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians." However, the Nimbus contract explicitly prohibits Google and Amazon from taking a similar action.
Google and Amazon denied the allegations in response to The Guardian's questions.
A Google spokesperson stated, "There is no question of us acting contrary to US laws or any other country's laws. Such claims are entirely false."
Amazon said, "We implement a strict process globally for legal requests related to customer data. We do not alter this process in a way that would breach our privacy obligations."
The Israeli Finance Ministry described the claims in the report as "baseless" and stated, "Companies are subject to strict contractual terms that protect Israel's vital interests."
