Google Was Set to Host An Israeli Military Conference. When We Asked About It, The Event Disappeared.

The Israeli Defense Tech Conference, aimed at tech companies working with the Israeli military, was scheduled for November at the Google for Startups campus in Tel Aviv.

The event, according to a listing posted on the event RSVP app Luma, was pitched at “founders, investors and innovators” looking to network and learn more about the defense tech space. It was co-sponsored by Google, Fusion Venture Capital, Genesis, a startup accelerator, and the Israeli military’s research and development arm, known as the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D, or Ma’fat). 

When The Intercept contacted Google, the event page disappeared.

Google was not only listed as the physical host of the event and one of its sponsors, but the event listing also included a notice that attendees “approve of sharing [their] details with the organizers (Fusion & Google)” as part of signing up.

When The Intercept contacted Google, as well as the other companies and venture capital firms on the event page, the event page disappeared. Google spokesperson Andréa Willis told The Intercept in an email, “Google is not associated with this event.” Willis did not respond when asked how this could be possible if Google is hosting and co-sponsoring the event, or why the event page went down. None of the other companies or venture capital firms on the event page responded to requests for comment.

After months of sustained protests against Google’s relationship with Israel, the company appears to be trying to muddy that relationship, at least in the public eye, while continuing its collaboration with the Israeli military.

In July, Google’s name was mysteriously removed from the website of a separate IT for IDF conference, meant to highlight tech companies working with the Israel Defense Forces, which identified it as a co-sponsor. Conference organizers claimed Google’s inclusion was a mistake, but internal documents from Google name the company as an event cosponsor. 

According to the event listing, November’s Israeli Defense Tech Conference would take place at the Tel Aviv campus of Google for Startups, which offers resources for companies that work or partner with Google. Its lead speaker is listed as Nir Weingold, head of planning, economics, and IT for DDR&D, who was scheduled to talk about “trends in Israeli defense tech.” Weingold was followed by a panel of venture capitalists talking about investing in Israeli military startups.

The event page also had a panel with executives of companies “leading Israeli defense tech.” One of these companies was SpearUAV, a company whose surveillance and explosive drones are used by the Israeli military. Another was Spectralx (formerly Polaris), a company that makes sensors, drones, and other military-grade technology. According to its website, it’s being used by the DDR&D and leading Israeli weapon manufacturer Elbit Systems, as well as the U.S. Navy and U.S. Special Operations Command. The third company, AIR, makes consumer-grade single-passenger electric planes. To date, the company has not publicly disclosed a relationship with the Israeli military.

The conference, if it takes place, would also feature several venture capital firms that are funding companies that are publicly working with the U.S. military, but have not yet disclosed any contracts with Israeli forces. One of these firms is Tal Ventures, which funds Magnus Metal, winner of a U.S. Department of Defense competition. Tal Ventures also funds Scribe, which got a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Another company that was scheduled to be at the conference is Intel Capital, the investment wing of the major chip manufacturer. The firm funds Syntiant Corp, which recently secured a contract with the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit for its targeting systems for unmanned vehicles. The firm has also published two pieces on its company blog about the importance of working with military and defense agencies.

Venture capital firm 10D was also scheduled to be at the conference. It funds Exodigo, an underground mapping company that has not disclosed any military contracts, but has spoken publicly about the importance of working with Israel’s military. Similarly, venture capital firm TLV Partners was scheduled to be at the conference, and has written on its company blog about the importance of private sector collaboration with the Israeli military.

For the past year, Google-sponsored conferences have been the target of people protesting Project Nimbus, the $1.2 billion contract it shares with Amazon that involves providing cloud services and other tools to the Israeli government. 

Shortly after news about Project Nimbus became public in 2021, hundreds of Google and Amazon workers signed and published an open letter condemning it, and the activist group No Tech for Apartheid formed. The group, made up of tech workers and organizers with MPower Change and Jewish Voice for Peace, has been protesting Project Nimbus since 2022.

For years, Google has insisted that Project Nimbus is “not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.” However, reporting has since revealed an extensive relationship between Project Nimbus and the IDF, accompanied by public paper trails.

In March, Google Cloud engineer Eddie Hatfield protested Project Nimbus by interrupting the Google Israel managing director at “Mind the Tech,” an Israeli tech industry conference in New York that is co-sponsored by Google. Hatfield was fired days later. 

Weeks later, Google employees staged sit-ins protesting Project Nimbus at company offices in Sunnyvale and New York, with simultaneous protests taking place outside. Nine people occupying company office space were arrested, and fifty people were fired shortly after. They later filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board about the incident. 

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