Leaked internal documents from Cisco reveal that the tech giant doubled down on its business relationships with Israel’s military intelligence community during the war in Gaza, despite widespread technical failures and internal employee dissent. The documents, obtained by the Guardian, show that Cisco faced repeated outages and crashes in its systems used by Israeli intelligence agencies, undermining their confidence in the company. A confidential memo from September 2025 warned that these issues severely impacted critical operations during the war.
The leaks come from Cisco workers who are furious with the company’s ties to Israel’s military three years into the war, which has resulted in over 70,000 Palestinian deaths. Cisco, known for providing the infrastructure that powers the internet, has long worked with the Israeli security state. The leaked documents show that Cisco pursued deals with Israeli intelligence, the air force, and the navy, even as international organizations began referring to Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.
Members of Bridge to Humanity, a group of current and former Cisco employees, criticized the company’s involvement, calling it a “shocking and complete contradiction of values.” They alleged that Cisco’s leadership dismissed their concerns while actively expanding business with the Israeli military. The documents also reveal that Cisco referred to its efforts to fix technical issues as a “customer success story” in an internal presentation.
The leaks come amid broader scrutiny of tech companies’ involvement in military contracts. Eric Sype, an organizer with the Palestinian digital rights non-profit 7amleh, noted that many tech companies have increased their revenue streams through military contracts, effectively becoming weapons manufacturing companies.