V-ECON Audit: Amazon

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Direct Supplier Relationships: No public evidence was identified confirming direct commercial contracts between Amazon and Israeli agricultural aggregators Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export, or Agrexco successors for direct procurement. However, Israeli-origin agricultural products including dates from Hadiklaim are sold on Amazon.com through third-party marketplace sellers ¹.

Importer of Record Structure: Amazon Global Logistics (AGL) offers freight forwarding and customs brokerage services facilitating Israeli seller exports to Amazon fulfillment centers in the US and EU. For third-party seller shipments, the Israeli seller typically retains Importer of Record status. For Amazon private-label goods (e.g., Whole Foods 365), Amazon or its subsidiary acts as Importer of Record.

Third-Party & Indirect Sourcing: Product listings on Amazon.com show dates (including Hadiklaim brands such as “Jordan River”) sold by third-party sellers with “from Israel” origin labeling ¹. The relationship between Amazon and Hadiklaim appears to be indirect — products reach Amazon’s platform via third-party marketplace sellers rather than direct procurement contracts.

Delivery Practices to Settlements: Amazon offers free delivery to Israeli settlements while charging Palestinian customers $24 for the same service ².

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

Settlement-Origin Products: Hadiklaim operates a packing house in the Beit Ha’Arava settlement in the West Bank and receives Israeli government indemnification for exports from “Judea and Samaria” ³. Products from this cooperative are sold on Amazon.com under “from Israel” origin labels, including Medjool dates ¹. The established practice of “settlement laundering” — mixing settlement produce with other product streams under generic country-of-origin labeling — creates conditions whereby settlement-origin goods may enter Amazon’s supply chain without explicit identification.

Labeling Compliance: No documented evidence of regulatory enforcement actions against Amazon regarding settlement-origin product labeling was identified. Amazon relies on vendor-provided origin data for marketplace listings.

Corporate Labeling Policy: No public evidence was identified of Amazon having a stated corporate policy on sourcing or labeling goods from occupied or contested territories.

UN Settlement Database Status: Amazon is NOT listed in the September 2025 UN OHCHR Settlement Business Database, which contains 158 business enterprises involved in settlement activity ⁴⁵.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Foreign Direct Investment: AWS committed $7.2 billion (ILS 26.6 billion) to the AWS Israel Region through 2037, representing one of the largest single foreign investments in Israeli history. This investment supports approximately 7,700 full-time equivalent jobs annually and is projected to contribute ILS 51.7 billion to Israel’s GDP ⁶⁷.

R&D & Innovation Centres: Amazon’s acquisition of Annapurna Labs (2015) for approximately $350-370 million established a chip design center in Israel that develops AWS’s Graviton, Trainium, and Inferentia processors ⁸. In 2024, Amazon absorbed the engineering team of Israeli startup NeuroBlade into Annapurna Labs; NeuroBlade’s founders (Elad Sity and Eliad Hillel) are veterans of IDF Unit 81 ⁹¹⁰.

Project Nimbus Contract: Amazon is a party to Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud services contract (awarded 2021) between AWS, Google Cloud, and the Israeli government. The contract provides services to multiple Israeli government ministries including the Ministry of Defense, Israeli military, Israel Police, and Israel Prison Service ¹¹¹². Contractual provisions include a prohibition on Amazon denying service to Israeli government entities, including the military, even if use violates terms of service ¹². The contract also includes a “winking mechanism” whereby AWS and Google would secretly notify Israel via coded payment amounts if foreign courts ordered data disclosure ¹³.

Weapons Manufacturer Cloud Services: AWS provides cloud services to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI/Elta), both state-owned Israeli weapons manufacturers, during the 2024-2025 period ¹⁴. The Intercept reported that AWS also provided services to Israel’s nuclear program and the West Bank administration ¹⁴.

Parent & Beneficial Ownership Flows: Amazon.com Inc. is the parent entity. No public evidence was identified of separate direct investments in Israeli companies by Amazon’s controlling principals (founder Jeff Bezos, CEO Andy Jassy, or major institutional shareholders) distinct from corporate operations.

Portfolio & Fund Exposure: Amazon is NOT listed among the seven lead underwriters of Israeli sovereign bonds (Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Citi, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase). No public evidence was identified of Amazon holding direct positions in Israeli sovereign bonds or Israeli-domiciled investment funds through its corporate treasury.

Corporate Involvement in Settlement Economy: The DBIO V report (November 2025) lists Amazon among 104 companies with documented involvement in the “economy of occupation” ¹⁵.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Physical Footprint: Amazon maintains two Israeli-domiciled subsidiaries: Amazon Web Services Israel Ltd (incorporated August 8, 2013, registration #514957737) and Amazon Data Services Israel Ltd (incorporated November 27, 2017, registration #515747087) ¹⁶¹⁷. AWS operates three datacenter facilities in Israel (Shoham, Tnuvot, and Har-Tov industrial zone near Beit Shemesh) launched in August 2023 as part of the AWS Israel Region ¹⁸.

Employment & Tax Contribution: AWS Israel employs staff including a VP of National Security with defense industry background and local management. Precise workforce figures are not disclosed in public filings. Amazon EU Sarl’s Israeli branch is registered as an authorized dealer with the Israel Tax Authority for VAT billing purposes.

Market Positioning: AWS describes Israel as a strategic market for cloud infrastructure and describes the Israel Region as enabling Israeli government and businesses to keep data resident in Israel while accessing cloud services.

Data Hosting for Israeli Military: The Guardian reported that tech giants including Amazon store mass data for Israel’s war effort, including AI databases used for airstrikes in Gaza ¹⁹.

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Founding & Incorporation History: Amazon was not founded in Israel. Amazon Web Services Israel Ltd was incorporated as a local subsidiary in 2013, seven years before the AWS Israel Region launch ¹⁶.

Headquarters & Domicile: Amazon.com Inc. is incorporated in Delaware, USA, with global headquarters in Seattle, Washington. AWS Israel maintains offices at 121 Begin Road, Tel Aviv.

State & Institutional Linkages: AWS VP David Appel (joined June 2022) has a 26-year career at Raytheon and serves on the board of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) ²⁰. No evidence was identified of government ownership stakes, critical national infrastructure designation, or government board appointees for Amazon in Israel.

Structural Governance Features: No public evidence was identified of governance mechanisms (golden shares, founder shares, charter restrictions) structuring Amazon’s operations to Israeli state objectives.

Employee Dissent: Amazon employee Ahmed Shahrour was suspended in September 2025 following internal protests against Project Nimbus ²¹. The “No Tech for Apartheid” worker coalition has organized opposition to Project Nimbus since 2021 ²²²³.

CEO Public Statement: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the October 2023 attacks on civilians in Israel “shocking” and stated the company would support relief efforts ²⁴.

Charitable Programs: Israeli organizations including Friends of the IDF (FIDF), LIBI Fund, and ONE FOR ISRAEL are eligible recipients under the AmazonSmile program, which donates 0.5% of eligible purchases to charitable organizations ²⁵.

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

Revenue Attribution: Amazon does not break out Israel-specific revenue in SEC filings. The AWS Israel Region investment is expected to contribute approximately ILS 51.7 billion to Israel’s GDP over the investment period ⁶.

Profit Flows: No public evidence was identified documenting the direction of profit flows between Amazon’s Israeli operations and the parent entity.

Economic Ecosystem Role: The $7.2 billion FDI commitment positions Amazon as a significant economic anchor in Israel’s cloud computing and technology infrastructure sector. The DBIO V report (November 2025) lists Amazon among 104 companies with documented involvement in the “economy of occupation” ¹⁵.

UN Special Rapporteur Report: The UN Special Rapporteur’s July 2025 report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide” (A/HRC/59/23) documents corporate involvement in settlement activity, including cloud infrastructure providers ²⁶²⁷.

End Notes