Microsoft Engineer Leaves After 13 Years Over Ties To Israeli Military

A Microsoft engineer, identified as Scott Sutfin-Glowski, has resigned after 13 years at the company. He cited Microsoft’s cloud work with the Israeli military as the reason. In a message to colleagues, Glowski condemned the ongoing war in Gaza.

“Today, the ceasefire in Gaza finally takes effect after two years of genocide, but the atrocities, human rights abuses, war crimes, apartheid, and occupation continue,” he wrote in a message to colleagues, CNBC reported on Thursday.

In his comments, Glowski said that the Microsoft executives refused to discuss the issue and called for accountability.

“I can no longer accept what may be the worst atrocities of our time,” he wrote.

Glowski, a principal software engineer, told his colleagues on Thursday that this will be his last week at Microsoft.

In his resignation letter, he cited a February Associated Press report stating that the Israeli military held at least 635 Microsoft subscriptions. He also claimed most are still active.

Microsoft declined to comment on the matter, according to CNBC report. The conflict has been a matter of ongoing tension at Microsoft and other tech companies, which are facing increasing pressure from many of their employees to cut ties with Israel.

At Microsoft, five employees were also fired over their protest against the company’s cloud business from the Israeli military.

Glowski’s resignation comes a day after President Donald Trump announced Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a peace plan. Two years after the war first began on Oct. 7, 2023, about 200 United States troops are being sent to Israel to help support the ceasefire agreement.

In September, Microsoft had said that it stopped providing some services to a division of Israel’s Ministry of Defense but gave no details. The move followed after a Guardian report surfaced that Unit 8200, part of the Israeli military, built a system to track Palestinians’ phone calls.

In his letter, Glowski also alleged that Microsoft has shut down internal communication channels that let employees voice concerns about the Israeli military’s use of the company’s products.