"Google 'playing with fire' by acquiring Israeli company founded by Unit 8200 veterans", 20 March 2025

Google employees and human rights groups have raised concerns about the tech giant’s purchase of an Israeli start-up in a $32bn deal.

Google... announced the all-cash acquisition of Wiz, an Israeli cloud security firm founded by former members of Unit 8200, an elite Israeli army cyber-espionage and surveillance unit.

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A spokesperson for No Tech for Apartheid, a coalition of Google workers campaigning against the company’s involvement with Israel, said Google is "playing with fire" by buying Wiz. 

"This acquisition marks a continuation of Google’s brazen support for the Israeli apartheid system," a spokesperson told Middle East Eye. 

"Instead of heeding workers’ calls to divest, Google is doubling down by investing in the colonial, racist, apartheid project of the so-called Israeli state. Google workers vehemently oppose this investment and continue to reject Project Nimbus.”

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Google and Wiz did not respond to MEE's request for comment at the time of writing. 

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Google previously tried to acquire Wiz last year but the company, headed by Assaf Rapoport, turned down its approach.

Sources told Reuters that talks for Google to acquire Wiz gained traction in the past two months after Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Following Trump’s election, Google - like other tech companies - has been vying for influence with the White House.

Unit 8200 alumni 

In February, Google dropped its pledge not to use artificial intelligence for purposes such as developing weapons and surveillance tools. 

Anna Bacciarelli, a senior researcher in Human Rights Watch’s technology rights and investigations division, said Google is deepening its ties to the Trump administration and Israel by prioritising AI for national security.

"The acquisition of Wiz, a cybersecurity firm founded by ex-members of Unit 8200, further entrenches Google’s stakes in AI-driven military technology," Bacciarelli told MEE.

"Unit 8200 has developed and deployed mass surveillance and technology systems that are incompatible with human rights.

“Google’s investment in Unit 8200 alumni raises serious concerns about its potential complicity in human rights abuses."

She described Google’s acquisition of Wiz as a "calculated business move" aimed at entrenching the company’s "dominance over cloud infrastructure by consolidating its power in ways that make accountability much harder".

"Google has been expanding its cloud presence in the Middle East in recent years, serving as a cloud provider for government services in countries such as the UAE and Kuwait, and partnering with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Matt Mahmoudi, a researcher on AI and human rights for Amnesty International, echoed Bacciarelli's concerns and said the inclusion of a company dominated by Unit 8200 veterans is "deeply concerning". 

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"Despite clear warnings from human rights experts that these technologies could contribute to genocide, Google continues its engagement with Israeli authorities, showing a blatant disregard for international human rights law. 

"The acquisition of a company that will further bolster projects like Nimbus only heightens the risk of exacerbating Israel's system of apartheid and repression."