Leaked memos show Cisco expanded military deals despite Gaza war disruptions

Leaked internal files show that Cisco aggressively pursued new business with the Israeli military during the Gaza conflict, even as system failures threatened to undermine the relationship. The documents illustrate how the company managed technical crises and expanded its financial footprint in the region.

The conflicts became apparent in a confidential memo from September 2025. It detailed prolonged outages and repeated crashes that shook the confidence of Israeli intelligence agencies in Cisco's network infrastructure. These technical failures occurred while the intelligence community was updating its digital systems during the war. A separate 2025 document indicates that contracts with Israel's military intelligence generated approximately $67 million in revenue over three years.

Cisco employees leaked the files to highlight what they saw as a contradiction between the company's ethical values and its military work. Members of Bridge to Humanity, a group of current and former workers, argued that by supplying hardware and software, Cisco functioned similarly to an arms manufacturer. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also found reasonable cause to believe the company fostered a hostile work environment for Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim employees following the October 2023 attacks. Cisco previously stated it disagreed with those findings.

As international bodies labeled Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide, Cisco executives viewed new opportunities as vital to their strategic position. The company's subsidiary Splunk pitched to join Project Nimbus, a cloud computing contract involving the Israeli government, Google, and Amazon. The leaked materials detail dozens of deals worked on in 2026 with various Israeli government clients, including the air force and navy. Many of these contracts were tagged as artificial intelligence initiatives.

When technical failures threatened operations, Israeli intelligence leaders hinted at canceling their contracts. Cisco entered crisis mode, mobilizing senior staff and multiple internal teams over several months to resolve the bugs. The company sent personnel to meet on site with a secretive military unit known as Sapir. These visits were conducted under extreme security conditions due to the ongoing war. Cisco's goal was to restore customer confidence and reverse negative sentiment.

After addressing the technical issues, Cisco reported that the client was satisfied between 2024 and the summer of 2025. The company billed this damage control effort as a customer success story in an internal presentation. Eric Sype, an organizer with the digital rights non-profit 7amleh, noted that the tech sector is moving aggressively into military contracting. He stated that Cisco facilitates the infrastructure for these operations and should be referenced in the same context as its peers.

Shareholders are expected to vote on a proposal requiring an independent human rights assessment of the company's business with the Israeli military at the general meeting this month. A group of investors has called for this review amid growing public pressure regarding the company's role in the conflict.