Cisco's deep involvement with Israel's military and intelligence infrastructure has come under scrutiny following the leak of internal documents. The files reveal how the tech giant rushed senior executives and engineering teams to Israeli military facilities to address repeated technical failures that threatened a $67 million business relationship. The disruptions, which included outages and system crashes, occurred during the Gaza war and reportedly endangered intelligence personnel's access to critical data.
The documents, obtained by The Guardian, detail Cisco's efforts to preserve and expand its relationship with Israel's defense establishment. The company described the technical problems as resolved between 2024 and the summer of 2025, later framing the episode as a “customer success story.” The leaked files also highlight Cisco's significant revenue from Israeli military contracts, which generated approximately $67 million over three years.
Cisco's business with the Israeli Defense Ministry has grown substantially, reaching $283 million in 2024. However, revenue from the ministry dropped sharply from $98 million in the first half of 2024 to $42 million in the same period of 2025. The company's internal assessments also reflected commercial opportunities arising from the conflict, including potential deals worth $50 million for an AI computing project and $15 million for a routed optical-network project.
The company's role in Israel's military infrastructure has sparked internal opposition. Bridge to Humanity, a group of current and former Cisco employees, has accused management of pursuing military business in contradiction to the company's public commitments to human rights. The group described Cisco's work with Israeli intelligence as a “shocking and complete contradiction of values” the company promotes.