BDS-1000 Dossier: Siemens AG

Dossier ID: 06-main-dossier.md Company: Siemens AG Classification: Public Forensic Dossier — Human-Vetted Date of Assessment: 2025 BRS Score: 580 | Tier: C (High)

Target Profile

Executive Summary

Siemens AG is a German industrial conglomerate with a documented commercial footprint in Israel spanning rail mobility, power generation, healthcare technology, and industrial software. The company’s most significant documented involvement is the approximately €1 billion contract with Israel Railways to supply 330 electric train cars for the A1 Tel Aviv–Jerusalem Fast Train, a route that crosses the Green Line into occupied West Bank territory in two locations and traverses privately-owned Palestinian land. This contract expanded in 2024 with an additional order for 81 trains, bringing the total to 834 cars. Siemens has also been selected as preferred contractor for HVDC converter stations on the Great Sea Interconnector, a project that would integrate Israeli grid infrastructure—including settlement electricity systems—into the European energy network.

The strongest documented vectors of complicity are economic and operational: Siemens Mobility’s direct provision of rail infrastructure to Israeli state enterprises, the licensing of Teamcenter PLM software to Israeli Ministry of Defence and major Israeli defence primes (IAI, Elbit, Rafael), and the supply chain relationship with Extal Ltd., an aluminium manufacturer operating in the Mishor Adumim industrial zone inside an illegal settlement. The company’s venture capital arm, Next47, maintains an active portfolio including Israeli cybersecurity unicorn Claroty, with whom Siemens maintains a strategic technology partnership. Siemens Energy operates a gas power plant in Israel and has been selected for the Great Sea Interconnector, which Palestinian rights organisations have warned will connect settlement electricity infrastructure to European grids.

What is not supported by evidence is equally important to document. No public evidence has been identified of Siemens acting as a direct arms supplier to the Israeli Defence Forces, holding contracts with Israeli military intelligence, manufacturing weapons systems components, or providing lethal platform sustainment. The company is not listed in the September 2025 UN OHCHR database of settlement-involved businesses. Siemens withdrew from the Jerusalem Light Rail expansion tender in 2019 under BDS campaign pressure. The company’s documented involvement centres on civilian infrastructure, commercial technology licensing, and economic presence—vectors that nonetheless contribute materially to Israel’s settlement economy and state apparatus.

The resulting BRS score of 580 places Siemens in Tier C (High), driven primarily by the V-ECON score of 7.50 (the highest single-domain score) reflecting substantial, ongoing commercial operations with Israeli state entities and settlement-adjacent supply chains. The V-POL score of 6.96 reflects documented operations in occupied territory and the company’s failure to adopt a posture equivalent to its Russia-Ukraine response. V-MIL (0.86) and V-DIG (1.10) are substantially lower, reflecting the civilian character of most documented involvement and the absence of verified weapons supply or surveillance technology contracts.

Timeline of Relevant Events

Corporate Overview

Group Structure

Siemens AG operates as a diversified industrial conglomerate organised into principal divisions including Siemens Mobility (rail rolling stock, rail infrastructure systems, traffic management), Digital Industries (industrial automation, PLM software), Smart Infrastructure (electrification products, building technology), and Siemens Energy (energy generation and transmission; now a separately listed entity with ~25% Siemens AG ownership following 2020 spin-off). Siemens Healthineers, majority-owned by Siemens AG (~75%), operates as a separately listed healthcare technology company.

Israeli Subsidiary Structure

Venture Capital and Innovation Presence

Next47, Siemens’ corporate venture capital arm, opened an office in Herzliya in January 2020. The portfolio includes Claroty (unicorn, ~$3 billion valuation), Bringg (unicorn), Logz.io, and proteanTecs. Moshe Zilberstein leads Israeli investments for Next47. The Siemens Dynamo innovation lab operates in Tel Aviv, launched in 2018 at SOSA co-working space.

Key Commercial Relationships with Israeli State Entities

• Israel Railways Corporation Ltd.: ~€1 billion contract for 330+81 electric train cars; 15-year maintenance (extendable to 29 years); A1 route operational December 2021
• Israel Electric Corporation: Historical turbine contracts (1999–2005); ongoing grid modernisation; ~40% of Israeli power-generation capacity based on Siemens technology
• NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System: €180–220 million Mireo tram-train contract for Jerusalem Light Rail expansion
• Israeli Ministry of Health: Medical equipment supply via Siemens Healthineers
• Israel Innovation Authority: Participant in MNC Collaboration Programme for joint R&D and industrial digitalisation

Settlement-Adjacent Operations

• Extal Ltd.: $4 million aluminium parts contract from Mishor Adumim Industrial Zone (illegal settlement); facilitated by Israeli Ministry of Economy (2019)
• RS Industries: Siemens Israeli representative for traffic control systems; documented on Road 443, Road 1 at Mishor Adumim, and Road 5 (roads with Palestinian access restrictions)
• Orad Group: Siemens Israeli representative providing fire detection/maintenance to Israel Prison Service (2012–2023)

Divested / Exited Operations

• Jerusalem Light Rail Green Line expansion: Siemens withdrew from 2019 tender under BDS campaign pressure; contract awarded to CAF/Shapir consortium
• ITS Division: Siemens states its intelligent transportation systems division was carved out in July 2021

Domain Summaries

V-MIL: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

The V-MIL audit found no public evidence of Siemens AG holding direct contracts with the Israeli Ministry of Defence, IDF, Israel Prison Service, or Israel Border Police for weapons, intelligence technology, or defence-specific equipment. Siemens is not listed in SIBAT defence export directories as a foreign defence supplier, and no FMS (Foreign Military Sales) notifications naming Siemens as prime contractor have been identified.

The primary documented military-adjacent vector is software licensing: Siemens Digital Industries Software Israel confirmed working with Israeli defence companies IAI, Elbit, Rafael, and Ministry of Defence on digital twin and PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) software—specifically Teamcenter—for missiles, aircraft, and vehicles. This establishes software licensing to Israeli defence sector entities but not weapons system manufacturing by Siemens. The audit notes that Teamcenter PLM software is used in defence product design and manufacturing processes at these entities.

A secondary vector involves infrastructure through contested territory: The A1 Tel Aviv–Jerusalem Fast Train, for which Siemens supplies rolling stock, traverses occupied Palestinian territory in two locations using privately-owned Palestinian land. Who Profits has documented this as an Israeli transportation project serving Israeli settlements. The Extal supply chain relationship connects Siemens to an aluminium supplier operating in the Mishor Adumim illegal settlement industrial zone.

Fire detection and extinguishing system maintenance was provided by Orad Group (Siemens representative) to Israel Prison Service facilities from 2012–2023. While the Israel Prison Service is not a military entity per se, it administers detention facilities that have been documented in connection with human rights concerns.

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Siemens’ strongest defence on the military dimension is that its documented involvement is overwhelmingly civilian in character: train cars for civilian rail transport, power generation turbines for civilian electricity, and PLM software for industrial design. The company is not a defence prime, does not manufacture weapons, and is not listed in the September 2025 UN OHCHR settlement database.

On the PLM software licensing to defence companies: Siemens can argue that it licenses general-purpose industrial design software to commercial customers globally, that it does not control how customers use the software, and that the licences do not constitute weapons supply. The audit explicitly notes this establishes “software licensing to Israeli defence sector but not weapons system manufacturing.”

On the A1 route crossing occupied territory: Siemens stated to Who Profits in February 2024 that it is “acting as a supplier, not involved in construction of A1 line” and that legal review concluded the transaction was “in line with human rights due diligence obligations.” The company can further note that it withdrew from the Jerusalem Light Rail tender, a project with more direct East Jerusalem exposure.

On the Extal supply chain: Extal is an aluminium company serving construction, industrial, and automotive sectors and is not a defence prime. Siemens can argue it procured aluminium parts from a commercial supplier without specific knowledge of settlement operations.

The audit’s evidence limits are significant: no specific BAFA export licence decisions naming Siemens, no verified joint development programmes with Israeli defence primes, no documented manufacturing or component supply roles for Iron Dome, F-35, Merkava, or other strategic systems.

Named Entities and Evidence Map

V-DIG: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

The V-DIG audit documents several vectors of digital technology involvement with Israeli entities:

Strategic Technology Partnerships: Siemens maintains a strategic partnership with Claroty, an Israeli-origin operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems cybersecurity company, announced in June 2018. The partnership integrates Claroty’s OT network monitoring platform into Siemens’ Industrial Anomaly Detection solution. Next47 (Siemens’ venture capital arm) invested in Claroty’s Series B funding round ($60 million) in 2018. The partnership remains active as of 2025, with Claroty securing $150 million in Series F funding in January 2025. Siemens Healthineers also announced a partnership with Claroty’s Medigate platform for healthcare cybersecurity in June 2023.

Venture Capital Presence: Next47 opened an office in Herzliya in 2020, with Moshe Zilberstein leading Israeli investments. The portfolio includes Claroty, Bringg, Logz.io, and proteanTecs. This establishes direct financial investment and operational presence in the Israeli technology ecosystem.

Industrial Software Licensing: Siemens PLM software (Teamcenter) is licensed through Israeli reseller McKit Systems to Israeli Ministry of Defense, Elbit Systems, IAI, and RAFAEL, with IMOD contracts exceeding $1 million between November 2023 and June 2024.

Energy Technology: Siemens Energy operates a 73MW natural gas power plant in Israel using Israeli startup Percepto drones for autonomous inspections.

Healthcare Technology: Siemens Healthineers Israel operates commercial and clinical operations in Israel, including a partnership with Israeli startup Scopio Labs for digital imaging distribution (June 2023). Siemens Healthineers utilizes CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager (EPM) for pharmaceutical manufacturing security—CyberArk is an Israeli-origin privileged access management company.

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Siemens’ strongest defence on the digital dimension is that the documented relationships are commercial technology partnerships with civilian applications: cybersecurity for industrial control systems, healthcare device security, industrial software licensing, and venture investment in a diversified portfolio company.

On the Claroty partnership: Siemens can argue that Claroty is a global cybersecurity company with customers worldwide, that the partnership serves critical infrastructure protection (including in Europe and the US), and that no evidence links the partnership to surveillance or military applications.

On the PLM software licensing to defence companies: As noted in V-MIL, Siemens can argue this is general-purpose industrial design software licensed globally, without specific knowledge of end-use in weapons programmes.

On the venture capital presence: Next47’s Israeli portfolio is a small fraction of its global investments, and venture investment does not constitute operational complicity in specific human rights concerns.

The audit’s evidence limits are significant: no verified use of facial recognition, biometric identification, or surveillance technologies from Israeli vendors; no participation in Project Nimbus (the Israeli sovereign cloud contract); no documented provision of AI or autonomous systems to Israeli military or security bodies; no evidence of Siemens technology being deployed for military targeting or intelligence collection.

Named Entities and Evidence Map

V-ECON: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

The V-ECON audit documents substantial and ongoing economic involvement across multiple vectors:

Rail Infrastructure Contracts: The Israel Railways contract (€1 billion, 330+81 train cars, operational December 2021) and Jerusalem Light Rail expansion contract (€180–220 million, Mireo tram-trains) represent material infrastructure contributions to Israeli state enterprises. The A1 route crosses the Green Line into occupied West Bank in two areas using privately-owned Palestinian land. Who Profits identifies Siemens as a significant infrastructure provider to Israel’s rail sector.

Energy Infrastructure: Approximately 40% of Israel’s power-generation capacity is based on Siemens technology (per Siemens Israel CEO, 2016). Turnkey industrial power-plant orders (Alon Tavor and Ramat Gabriel) were built around Siemens SGT-800 gas turbines and SST-300 steam turbines. Siemens was selected as preferred bidder for HVDC converter stations on the Great Sea Interconnector (€1.9 billion project linking Greece, Cyprus, and Israel), which Palestinian rights organisations have warned will connect settlement electricity systems to European grids.

Settlement-Adjacent Supply Chain: Siemens contracted Extal Ltd. for $4 million in aluminium parts from Mishor Adumim industrial zone, located in a settlement industrial area, with the Israeli Ministry of Economy facilitating the relationship in 2019.

Software Licensing Revenue: Siemens PLM software is licensed through Israeli reseller McKit Systems to Israeli Ministry of Defense, Elbit Systems, IAI, and RAFAEL, with documented IMOD contracts exceeding $1 million (November 2023–June 2024).

Operational Footprint: ~800 employees across Israeli subsidiaries; wholly-owned subsidiaries including Siemens Israel Ltd., Siemens Energy Ltd., Siemens Industry Software Ltd., and Siemens Healthineers Israel. Siemens Healthineers partnered with Israeli startup Scopio Labs for digital imaging distribution (June 2023).

Historical FCPA Settlement: The 2016 settlement (NIS 160 million / $43 million) resolved charges related to bribery of Israel Electric Corporation executives during 1999–2005 turbine contracts.

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Siemens’ strongest defence on the economic dimension centres on the civilian character of its commercial activities: train cars for public transportation, power generation for civilian electricity, healthcare equipment for hospitals, and industrial software for commercial manufacturing.

On the A1 route crossing occupied territory: Siemens stated to Who Profits (February 2024) that it is “acting as a supplier, not involved in construction of A1 line” and that legal review concluded the transaction “was in line with human rights due diligence obligations.” The company can argue it supplies rolling stock to a state railway operator without control over route planning.

On the Great Sea Interconnector: Siemens can note the project is undergoing financial and regulatory review, only the Greece-Cyprus segment is currently constructed, and the company is a technology supplier for energy infrastructure.

On the Extal supply chain: Siemens can argue it procured commercial aluminium from a supplier without specific knowledge of settlement operations, and that Extal serves construction, industrial, and automotive sectors rather than defence.

On the PLM software licensing to defence companies: As noted above, general-purpose industrial design software licensed globally.

The audit notes that Siemens is not on the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global exclusion list, and is not listed in the September 2025 UN OHCHR settlement database. No binding regulatory action or formal legal proceeding concerning Siemens’ occupied-territory operations has been identified.

Named Entities and Evidence Map

V-POL: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

The V-POL audit documents the following political dimension vectors:

Operations in Occupied Territory: The A1 Tel Aviv–Jerusalem Fast Train, for which Siemens supplies rolling stock, crosses the Green Line into occupied West Bank in two areas using occupied Palestinian land. Siemens traffic control systems were documented on Road 443, Road 1 at Mishor Adumim, and Road 5 (roads with Palestinian access restrictions) during 2009–2015. Through representative Orad Group, Siemens fire detection/maintenance systems were contracted for Israel Prison Service facilities from 2012–2023.

Corporate Communications: CEO Roland Busch posted a LinkedIn statement in October 2023 expressing “deepest sympathies” following October 7 attacks and condemning “terrorist action,” but did not address Palestinian civilian casualties or subsequent Israeli military operations in Gaza. Siemens was among 100+ German companies signing a statement condemning Hamas and expressing solidarity with Israel. No equivalent statement regarding Israeli military operations in Gaza has been identified, in contrast to Siemens’ explicit March 2022 statement suspending new business in Russia following the Ukraine invasion.

Civil Society Scrutiny and Campaigns: The BDS Movement lists Siemens as a Priority 1 boycott target, citing involvement in the Great Sea Interconnector and Israel Railways. Palestinian civil society sent an open letter to Siemens in 2021 demanding withdrawal from the Jerusalem Light Rail project. Employee protests occurred at Siemens facilities in 2024. Students occupied Siemens Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt in April 2024. Activists smashed glass doors at Siemens Cambridge office in October 2024. Didsbury for Palestine has led ongoing protests at Siemens UK offices since May 2025, receiving partial admission of heightened due diligence from Siemens in August 2025.

Lobbying: Siemens AG spent $6.16 million on US federal lobbying in 2024. In Germany, Siemens is registered in the Bundestag Lobbying Register with annual expenditure of €980,001–1,210,000 (FY 2024–2025). No specific lobbying line items explicitly addressing Israel-Palestine policy or anti-BDS legislation have been identified.

Turkish Boycott Contract Controversy: Siemens’ Turkish subsidiary allegedly signed a contract with Turkish State Railways containing a boycott-of-Israel clause to secure a $360 million deal. Siemens denied the allegation. New York and Arizona officials reviewed the matter following a Zachor Legal Institute complaint.

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Siemens’ strongest defence on the political dimension is that no binding regulatory action or legal proceeding specifically concerning Siemens’ occupied-territory operations has been identified in any national or international forum. The company is not listed in the UN OHCHR settlement database.

On operations in occupied territory: Siemens can argue it supplies civilian technology to state enterprises without control over where that technology is deployed, and that it withdrew from the Jerusalem Light Rail tender (a project with more direct East Jerusalem exposure).

On corporate communications: Siemens can note that its October 2023 statement condemned terrorist attacks (a balanced position), that it has issued statements on various geopolitical issues, and that the Russia-Ukraine comparison is not directly applicable given different commercial and legal circumstances.

On the Turkish boycott allegation: Siemens has denied signing any boycott declaration, and no verified contract containing such a clause has been produced.

The audit’s evidence limits are significant: no material corporate donations to Israeli settlement organisations, parastatal military-welfare funds (FIDF, JNF), or equivalent identified; no evidence of Siemens directing corporate resources specifically to Israeli military operations during the 2023–2024 Gaza conflict; no personal philanthropy by Siemens executives to Israeli advocacy organisations identified.

Named Entities and Evidence Map

BDS-1000 Score (V4)

Score Table

• V_MAX: 7.50 Sum_OTHERS: 8.92
• BRS Score: 580 Tier: C (High)

Score Interpretation

The BRS of 580 is driven primarily by V-ECON at 7.50, reflecting Siemens’ substantial, ongoing commercial operations with Israeli state enterprises including Israel Railways, Israel Electric Corporation, and the Ministry of Defence, alongside settlement-adjacent supply chain relationships and a significant operational footprint (~800 employees, wholly-owned subsidiaries). The V-POL score of 6.96 reflects documented operations in occupied territory, the company’s failure to adopt a Russia-Ukraine-equivalent posture on Gaza, and sustained civil society scrutiny. V-MIL (0.86) and V-DIG (1.10) are substantially lower, reflecting the absence of verified weapons supply, the civilian character of documented technology relationships, and the lack of evidence for surveillance or offensive cyber capabilities. The tier classification of C (High) reflects material but not maximal complicity across economic and political dimensions, with limited but non-zero military and digital vectors.

Method: Scale-free Impact × Magnitude × Proximity, evidence-only from four domain audits, human-vetted. V-Domain scores computed as I × M × P / 10. V_MAX = highest single-domain score. BRS = V_MAX × (V_MAX + Sum_OTHERS).

Methodology Note

• Evidence-only basis: All factual claims trace to one of four domain audits (V-MIL, V-DIG, V-ECON, V-POL). Where audits found nothing, “No public evidence identified” is stated explicitly. No speculative or unverified claims are included.
• Scale-free scoring: Impact (I) reflects activity type (weapons = highest, civilian infrastructure = high, financial/operational presence = moderate). Magnitude (M) reflects scale of involvement. Proximity (P) reflects directness to end harm (settlement operations = highest, state enterprise supply = high, global licensing = moderate).
• Temporal rule: Divested or exited operations (e.g., Jerusalem Light Rail tender withdrawal 2019, ITS division carve-out 2021) are documented but assessed with appropriate temporal weight. Ongoing operations receive current-period weighting.
• Entity attribution: No transitive guilt. Siemens AG is assessed for its own documented relationships. Subsidiary relationships are included where they represent direct Siemens commercial activity. Portfolio company relationships (e.g., Next47/Claroty) are included where they represent active Siemens commercial partnerships.
• Settlement operation dual-counting: Operations in or serving illegal settlements (e.g., Extal/Mishor Adumim, traffic control on West Bank roads) count toward both V-ECON and V-POL, reflecting economic contribution to settlement enterprise and political endorsement of annexation.
• “No public evidence identified”: This formulation is used where audit searches found nothing. It reflects the absence of documented evidence in open sources—not a determination that the activity is absent, only that it has not been publicly documented.

End Notes

Document prepared in accordance with BDS-1000 methodology V4. All scores are human-vetted FINAL values. Evidence base: four domain audits (V-MIL, V-DIG, V-ECON, V-POL). Claims reflect only documented, publicly available evidence. “No public evidence identified” denotes absence of documented evidence in open sources, not determination of non-occurrence.