BDS-1000 Dossier: Honor Device Co., Ltd
Key Findings
- Economic: Honor explicitly excludes Israel from its officially served markets; Statcounter records 0% market share in Israel (May 2026); products reach Israel only via grey-market channels with no named official distributor or Israeli subsidiary.12
- Digital: Honor’s documented semiconductor suppliers are Qualcomm (US) and MediaTek (Taiwan); its AI stack uses Google Cloud’s Gemini; no Israeli-origin cybersecurity, cloud, or analytics vendor appears in Honor’s confirmed technology stack.34
- Not found: Honor scores 0 across all four domains and is absent from the UN OHCHR settlement database, the Albanese A/HRC/59/23 report, Who Profits, AFSC Investigate, and BDS Movement priority target lists.5678
Target Profile
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Company Name | Honor Device Co., Ltd. |
| Jurisdiction | People’s Republic of China (Shenzhen, Guangdong Province); incorporated as a joint-stock company as of December 28, 2024 |
| Headquarters | Shenzhen, China |
| Sector | Consumer electronics - smartphones, tablets, wearables, and accessories |
| Ownership | 98.6% owned by Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd.; Shenzhen Zhixin is majority-owned by Shenzhen Smart City Technology Development Group Co., Ltd., which is wholly owned by Shenzhen City Government SASAC 91011; Named investors include China Mobile, China Telecom, CICC Capital, Aishide Company (6.6 billion yuan strategic investment, 2021), and others 1213; Honor Terminal Co., Ltd. was established April 1, 2020, and legally rebranded to Honor Device Co., Ltd. on December 28, 2024 1415 |
| Key Executives / Governance | Wu Hui - Chairman (appointed November 2023; prior career in Chinese state-owned enterprises including Shenzhen Water Group and Shenzhen Smart City) 1617; Li Jian - CEO (appointed January 17, 2025; Huawei veteran, joined Honor 2021) 1819; George Zhao (Zhao Ming) - former CEO who resigned January 2025 18; Wan Biao - former Vice-Chairman who resigned September 30, 2024 17 |
| Israeli-Nexus Summary | No public evidence identified of Honor maintaining Israeli operations, defence contracts, settlement presence, or economic engagement with the Israeli state or occupied territories. |
Key Facts:
- Honor was spun off from Huawei on November 17, 2020, via sale to a consortium led by Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd. for approximately CNY 100 billion; Huawei officially divested and holds no shares or management role 920
- Honor explicitly excludes Israel from its officially served markets, listing its global footprint as “Worldwide (except US, Russia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan)” 1
- Statcounter market share data for Israel (May 2026) records Honor at 0% - below the 1% detection threshold 2
- Honor products enter Israel only via grey-market channels; no official distributor or Israeli subsidiary identified 12122
- Honor participates in Google’s Android Enterprise Recommended (AER) programme - a standard commercial enterprise device certification 23
- Honor’s UN Global Compact profile lists only one named foreign subsidiary: Honor Technologies de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. No Israeli subsidiary appears 24
- Honor is not listed in the UN OHCHR settlement enterprise database (A/HRC/60/19, September 2025, 158 companies), A/HRC/59/23 Albanese report (48 named corporate actors), DBIO-V report (104 companies), Who Profits database, or AFSC Investigate database 562578
- Honor is not a named boycott target in BDS Movement priority lists 26
Executive Summary
Honor Device Co., Ltd. is a Shenzhen-based consumer electronics company that spun off from Huawei in November 2020 and operates as an independent manufacturer of smartphones and related devices. The four-domain audit - covering military (Military), digital (Digital), economic (Economic), and political (Political) vectors - found no public evidence of Honor maintaining any nexus with the Israeli state, Israeli defence institutions, occupied territories, or settlement activity.
Across all four domains, checks returned uniformly negative results. No contract, tender, framework agreement, or memorandum of understanding links Honor to the Israeli Ministry of Defence, IDF, or any Israeli state security body. Honor manufactures no mil-spec, tactical, or defence-grade product variants; its consumer durability claims (drop-resistant, water-resistant) are consumer-grade, not MIL-STD-810 certified. Israeli military smartphone procurement is served by dedicated domestic and allied vendors - including the IDF’s Hoshen encrypted phone, ASIO Orion ruggedized devices, and a $100M Motorola Solutions contract - with Honor absent from all identified channels. Honor’s documented semiconductor suppliers are Qualcomm (US) and MediaTek (Taiwan); its software runs on Android with Google Mobile Services and MagicOS. No Israeli-origin cybersecurity, cloud, analytics, or enterprise software vendor appears in Honor’s documented technology stack.
Economically, Honor holds no Israeli subsidiary, no disclosed investment in Israeli companies or sovereign bonds, and no operational presence in Israel or occupied territories. Honor explicitly excludes Israel from its official market list. Products reach Israel only via grey-market channels; Statcounter records zero Honor market share in Israel as of May 2026. Honor operates R&D facilities exclusively in China (Shenzhen, Beijing, Xi’an, Nanjing, Shanghai) and has made no acquisitions of or investments in Israeli technology companies. A separately incorporated Israeli entity named “Honor Construction and Investment Company Ltd.” (Registration No. 514550144, Ramat Gan) has been confirmed as unrelated to Honor Device Co., Ltd.
Huawei’s documented Israeli activities - including the Toga Networks and HexaTier acquisitions, Huawei Israel R&D operations, and recruitment of Israeli offensive-cyber talent - are Huawei transactions and relationships, not Honor’s. The November 2020 divestment separated Honor entirely from Huawei’s corporate structure; no evidence of personnel or IP transfer from Huawei Israel to Honor has been identified.
The result across all vectors is V=0.00, producing a BRS score of 0 and a Tier E (Minimal) classification. This reflects the evidence record faithfully: no nexus, no connection, no documented involvement.
Timeline of Relevant Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Pre-2013 | Honor operated as a Huawei sub-brand 9 |
| 2016 | Huawei acquired Israeli cybersecurity companies HexaTier Ltd. ($42M) and Toga Networks Ltd. ($150M) - Huawei transactions, not Honor 272829 |
| November 17, 2020 | Huawei sold Honor brand assets to Shenzhen Zhixin consortium for approximately CNY 100 billion; Honor formally separated from Huawei 920 |
| April 1, 2020 | Honor Terminal Co., Ltd. established as intermediate holding entity 15 |
| 2021 | Huawei Israel reportedly directed Chinese supervisory staff with information flowing to China; Huawei subsequently closed its Israel cloud division while retaining Toga Networks - Huawei matters, not Honor 3031 |
| 2021 | Aishide Company made 6.6 billion yuan strategic investment in Honor 17 |
| January 2022 | Honor Global Privacy Policy issued (August 16, 2022 version on record) 32 |
| December 28, 2024 | Honor Terminal Co., Ltd. legally rebranded to Honor Device Co., Ltd.; transformed from LLC to joint-stock company 1415 |
| August 2024 | China Mobile acquired pre-IPO stake in Honor 1213 |
| September 30, 2024 | Wan Biao resigned as Honor Vice-Chairman 17 |
| January 17, 2025 | Li Jian appointed CEO, succeeding George Zhao (Zhao Ming) 1819 |
| June 2025 | Honor initiated A-share listing guidance 19 |
| May 2026 | Statcounter records Honor at 0% mobile market share in Israel 2 |
Corporate Overview
Honor Device Co., Ltd. operates as an independent Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer headquartered in Shenzhen, with registered capital of approximately CNY 99.4 billion (~$13.7 billion) 1415. The company designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, tablets, laptops, wearables, and accessories under the Honor brand.
Corporate Structure:
- Parent Entity: Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd. (established April 1, 2020) holds 98.6% of Honor Device Co., Ltd.
- Ultimate Ownership: Shenzhen Smart City Technology Development Group Co., Ltd. - majority owner of Shenzhen Zhixin - is wholly owned by Shenzhen City Government SASAC 101117
- Named Investors (23+ total shareholders per Tianyancha): China Mobile, China Telecom, CICC Capital, CoStone Capital, Oriental Fortune Capital, Jinshi Xingyao Intelligent Equipment Private Equity Fund, Hangzhou Weitong Equity Investment Partnership (under China Reform Holdings Corp., Ltd.), Aishide Company 12131920
- Listed Foreign Subsidiary: Honor Technologies de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (confirmed in UN Global Compact participant profile) 24
- UK Entity: Honor Technologies (UK) Co., Ltd. (company number 13152943, incorporated January 22, 2021, SIC 46520 - Wholesale of electronic and telecommunications equipment) is a distinct legal entity; no settlement-activity link identified 33
- Separate Unrelated Entity: “Honor Construction and Investment Company Ltd.” (Registration No. 514550144, Sokoloff 20, Ramat Gan) confirmed as unrelated to Honor Device Co., Ltd. 21
R&D Footprint:
Honor operates five confirmed R&D centres in China: Beijing, Shenzhen, Xi’an, Nanjing, and Shanghai. The Shanghai centre includes Shanghai Honor Intelligent Technology Development Co. in the Lingang Free Trade Zone (registered May 2023, CNY 100 million capital, chip design focus) 34. No R&D facilities, engineering offices, or accelerator programmes operate within Israel.
Supply Chain:
Documented component suppliers: Qualcomm (US) for semiconductors; MediaTek (Taiwan) for chipsets; BOE (China) and Sony (Japan) for display panels. Software stack: standard Android with Google Mobile Services and MagicOS; Google Cloud’s Gemini AI integrated at the top layer of Honor’s Four-Layer AI Architecture (VivaTech 2024) 34.
Israeli Entities and Franchise Relationships:
No public evidence identified of any authorized Honor reseller, distributor, or franchise operating in Israel or occupied territories. Honor products reach Israel via grey-market importers-of-record who handle Ministry of Communications type-approval compliance; these service providers are unnamed in public disclosures 12122. Honor explicitly excludes Israel from its officially served markets 1. Cell Avenue/Sweetik operates as official distributor in Palestinian-administered Area A/B territory only - not in Israeli settlement areas 35.
Domain Summaries
Military: Military
Mechanism of Involvement
No mechanism of military involvement was identified for Honor. The Military audit checked the following channels and found no evidence on any of them:
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Direct defence contracts: No contracts, tender awards, framework agreements, or memoranda of understanding with IMOD, IDF, Israel Prison Service, Israel Border Police, or any Israeli state security body. Honor does not appear in SIBAT defence trade directories, Israeli defence procurement registries, or international defence exhibition catalogues. No press releases, government announcements, or trade press reports disclose defence cooperation or joint ventures with Israeli defence entities 12736.
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Dual-use products: Honor manufactures no ruggedised, tactical, mil-spec, or defence-grade product variants. Consumer durability claims (X9c/X9d series: “Drop-Resistant | Water-Resistant | Heat-Resistant”) are consumer-grade, not MIL-STD-810 certified. No mil-spec or military-specified variant has been publicly marketed to or confirmed as sold to Israeli security forces 2337.
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Israeli military smartphone procurement: IDF requirements are served by: (a) Hoshen unit encrypted IDF phone (operational since 2018); (b) ASIO Orion ruggedized phone (400% IDF order surge since October 2023); (c) Motorola Solutions (Mountain Rose replacement, $100M contract); (d) Apple iPhone mandatory for LTCOL+ officers. Honor is absent from all identified procurement channels 2736383940.
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Supply chain integration with defence primes: No components, sub-systems, raw materials, or specialist manufacturing services link Honor to Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael, or Israel Military Industries. Review of Elbit’s 2024 20-F filing and Q3/Q4 results confirms Honor is not listed as a supplier, vendor, or component source. Elbit’s disclosed component suppliers include NextVision, SCD, and Opgal - none Honor-related 4142.
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Logistical sustainment: No contracts for catering, transport, fuel supply, waste management, facilities maintenance, telecommunications, or other support to IDF bases, military training facilities, detention centres, or security installations. No shipping, freight, or port-handling contracts specifically servicing Israeli defence logistics 1.
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Munitions and weapons systems: No involvement as prime contractor or licensed manufacturer of lethal platforms; no supply of ammunition, explosive ordnance, propellants, warhead components, or munitions precursors. No involvement in Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow, fighter aircraft, main battle tanks, warships, or ballistic missile systems - or in critical sub-systems (guidance electronics, fire-control, radar, propulsion, warhead casings) for such systems 14142.
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Export licensing: No publicly known government decisions to grant, deny, suspend, or revoke export licences for Honor products to Israeli military or security end-users. No investigations, citations, or enforcement actions related to arms embargoes, export control regimes, or sanctions affecting defence trade with Israel 1.
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Civil society databases: Honor is not named in the UN OHCHR settlement enterprise database (97 companies, 2020/2023; 158 companies, September 2025), A/HRC/59/23 (Albanese, 48 named actors), DBIO-V (104 companies), Who Profits, AFSC Investigate, or PAX “Companies Arming Israel and Their Financiers” (48-company list) 5625784344.
Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits
Honor Device Co., Ltd. has not issued documented corporate statements responding to the July 2024 ICJ Advisory Opinion or November 2024 ICC arrest warrants. However, the absence of statements is consistent with Honor’s broader policy of not taking public positions on geopolitical conflicts - no statements have been identified on any major geopolitical issue including the Russia-Ukraine war, Xinjiang, or other human rights situations. This pattern is consistent with a company that has no Israeli nexus requiring a response.
The entity-separation argument is substantiated: Huawei’s Israeli activities (Toga Networks, HexaTier acquisitions; Huawei Israel R&D operations; Haaretz-documented recruitment of Israeli offensive-cyber talent) predate and are legally distinct from Honor post-2020. The spin-off was a formal transaction separating Huawei and Honor into independent corporate entities with no shared ownership, management, or governance post-November 2020. No evidence any former Huawei Israel employees transitioned to Honor; no evidence of Huawei Israel IP transfer to Honor.
Evidence limits: The audit relied on publicly available sources - corporate disclosures, UN databases, civil society reports, defence procurement registries, trade publications, and media reporting. Privately negotiated contracts, informal arrangements, or classified agreements not reflected in public records cannot be ruled out. However, the consistency and breadth of the negative findings across multiple independent source types establishes a strong evidentiary baseline.
Named Entities and Evidence Map
| Channel | Entity Checked | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| IMOD / IDF / security bodies | Direct contracts, SIBAT directories, procurement registries | No evidence 136 |
| Defence primes | Elbit Systems (2024 20-F, Q3/Q4 results), IAI, Rafael, IMI | No evidence 4142 |
| Military procurement channels | IDF Hoshen, ASIO Orion, Motorola ($100M), Apple (LTCOL+) | Honor absent 2736383940 |
| UN/civil society databases | UN OHCHR, Albanese A/HRC/59/23, DBIO-V, Who Profits, AFSC, PAX | Honor absent 5625784344 |
| Ownership chain | Shenzhen SASAC, Shenzhen Smart City, executives (Wu Hui, Li Jian, Zhao, Wan Biao) | No Israeli defence, FIDF, or settlement-NGO affiliations documented 171819 |
Digital: Digital
Mechanism of Involvement
No digital involvement mechanism was identified. The Digital audit checked the following channels:
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Enterprise technology stack: Honor’s documented semiconductor suppliers are Qualcomm (US) and MediaTek (Taiwan); display panels from BOE (China) and Sony (Japan); software on standard Android with Google Mobile Services and MagicOS; Google Cloud’s Gemini AI integrated at the top layer of Honor’s Four-Layer AI Architecture (VivaTech 2024). No licensing, subscription, or integration relationships with Israeli-origin cybersecurity, cloud, analytics, communications, or enterprise software vendors have been identified. Honor’s Supplier CSR Code of Conduct covers labour rights, health and safety, environmental standards, business ethics, and management systems but names no specific vendors 3445.
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Surveillance and biometrics: Honor’s documented AI features (AI Eraser, Face-to-Face Translation, Notes Multi-language Live Translation, DeepFake Detection, Studio Harcourt portrait AI, Magic Portal) are provided through Google Cloud AI integration and proprietary MagicOS development. No facial recognition, biometric identification, behavioural analytics, or gait analysis technologies of Israeli origin - including Trigo, BriefCam, AnyVision/Osto, or Trax - have been confirmed in Honor’s technology stack. An indirect pathway involving AppsFlyer (Israeli-founded attribution analytics company listing Huawei as a pre-install partner) was investigated: whether Honor devices post-2020 include AppsFlyer SDK is not confirmed by Honor disclosures or AppsFlyer customer case studies. No Honor-specific AppsFlyer integration documentation has been identified 3446.
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Cloud infrastructure: Honor uses Google Cloud (US jurisdiction) for AI features including Gemini AI integration. No Honor-operated, -leased, or -co-located data centre infrastructure within Israel has been identified. Honor is not named in A/HRC/59/23, which specifically documents Project Nimbus companies (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM). Google Cloud operates data centres in Israel (Tel Aviv region); whether MEA-region Honor user data routes through Google’s Israeli nodes is not confirmed 54.
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Defence and intelligence technology: No contracts, partnerships, or service agreements between Honor and Israeli MOD, IDF, intelligence agencies, or state security bodies. Open-source investigation combining “Honor” with “Elbit Systems,” “Rafael,” or “Israel Aerospace Industries” returned zero Honor-specific results across multiple search rounds. No publicly reported deployment of commercially available Honor technology for military, intelligence, or law enforcement surveillance applications in Israel or occupied territories. Honor is not listed in the Israeli Ministry of Defence Procurement Directorate public vendor listings 4748.
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AI and autonomous systems: No AI, machine learning, computer vision, or autonomous decision-support systems provided to Israeli state, military, or security bodies. No AI models trained on or provided access to civilian population data, intercepted communications, or surveillance-derived datasets from Israel or occupied territories. No autonomous target generation, threat detection, or tracking systems provided to Israeli forces 48.
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R&D footprint: Honor’s five confirmed R&D centres are all located in China. No R&D facilities, engineering offices, innovation labs, or accelerator programmes within Israel. No acquisitions of Israeli technology companies or investments in Israeli startups or venture funds. No significant patent portfolios, licensing agreements, or co-development arrangements with Israeli-domiciled entities or research institutions (Technion, Hebrew University, Weizmann Institute) 34.
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Huawei legacy (not Honor): Huawei operated an Israeli R&D centre via subsidiary Toga Networks (offices in Hod Hasharon and Haifa, ~2009 onward); employed individuals with Israeli defence-sector backgrounds documented including a former Elbit Systems employee (1997–2000); acquired HexaTier and Toganetworks before the Honor divestment. Huawei subsequently closed its Israel cloud division while retaining Toga Networks. Huawei Israel information-flow concerns are documented, including Chinese supervisory staff directing operations with information flowing to China. These facts are documented for Huawei, not Honor post-spin-off. No documented transfer of Huawei Israel personnel or intellectual property to Honor post-November 2020 has been identified 27282930314950.
Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits
The strongest counter-argument involves residual uncertainty about third-party SDK integration in Honor devices. AppsFlyer, an Israeli-founded attribution analytics company headquartered in Israel, lists Huawei as a pre-install partner in its standard OEM pre-install configuration. Whether Honor devices, as a nominally separate entity post-2020, inherit or maintain this SDK relationship is not confirmed by Honor disclosures or AppsFlyer customer documentation. This represents a theoretical pathway that the audit could not definitively close.
Similarly, Google Cloud’s Israeli data centre presence (Tel Aviv region) creates ambiguity about whether MEA-region Honor user data routes through Israeli infrastructure. Honor’s privacy policy section on data storage jurisdictions (Section 9) was not fully captured in available documentation; whether Honor routes data through Israeli nodes has not been directly confirmed.
However, these ambiguities concern potential indirect pathways through third-party infrastructure, not Honor’s own corporate decisions to engage Israeli technology vendors or establish Israeli operational presence. The evidence record documents Honor’s technology choices (Qualcomm, MediaTek, Google Cloud) as explicitly non-Israeli in origin. No evidence identifies Honor as having made a deliberate choice to route data through Israeli infrastructure or integrate Israeli surveillance technologies.
Evidence limits: SDK integration audit would require technical examination of device firmware or source code; data routing analysis would require access to Honor’s infrastructure architecture or network flow documentation. These are not publicly available.
Named Entities and Evidence Map
| Channel | Entity Checked | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Semiconductor suppliers | Qualcomm (US), MediaTek (Taiwan) | No Israeli origin 3 |
| Display suppliers | BOE (China), Sony (Japan) | No Israeli origin 3 |
| AI/cloud stack | Google, Google Cloud (US jurisdiction) | No Israeli origin 34 |
| Israeli surveillance vendors | Trigo, BriefCam, AnyVision/Osto, Trax | Not confirmed in Honor stack 34 |
| Attribution analytics | AppsFlyer (Israel) - Huawei pre-install partner | Honor-specific integration unconfirmed 46 |
| Israeli MOD procurement | MOD Defence Export Directory | Honor absent 47 |
| R&D locations | All five confirmed R&D centres in China | No Israel R&D 34 |
| Israeli acquisitions/investments | All rounds of investigation | None documented 34 |
| Civil society databases | UN OHCHR, Albanese, DBIO-V, Who Profits, AFSC | Honor absent 562578 |
Economic: Economic
Mechanism of Involvement
No economic involvement mechanism was identified. The Economic audit checked the following channels:
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Supply chain and sourcing: Honor is a smartphone and consumer electronics manufacturer; its supply chain consists of device components, not agricultural produce or food inputs. No direct commercial relationships between Honor and Israeli agricultural aggregators or exporters (Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export, Agrexco successors) have been identified. Country-of-origin labelling requirements under the settlement-produce framework are not applicable to electronics. Honor’s ESG supplier responsibility page addresses environmental and social audits of manufacturing supply chains (460,000 employees audited, 318 smelters audited, 160 carbon-inventory suppliers audited) but contains no territorial-sourcing disclosures specific to occupied or contested territories 4551.
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Investment and capital: No direct capital investments by Honor within Israel or occupied territories - no acquisitions, factories, data centres, logistics hubs, or real estate holdings. No disclosed Israeli subsidiary; no Israeli R&D centre. Honor Device Co., Ltd. lists only one disclosed foreign subsidiary: Honor Technologies de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. The intermediate holding entity (Shenzhen Zhixin) has 23+ named registered shareholders including BOE Technology Group, China Mobile, China Telecom, CICC Capital, and others; none are known to have Israeli operational subsidiaries based on available public records. No disclosed positions in Israeli-domiciled companies, Israeli sovereign bonds, or Israel-focused investment funds. Honor does not appear on the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global exclusion list 2452535455.
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Operational presence: No Honor-operated offices, sales operations, support centres, warehouses, or retail locations in Israel or occupied territories. Honor’s official country and region selector does not include Israel. No locally registered Honor entity in Israel with disclosed workforce or tax registration. Statcounter records Honor at 0% mobile market share in Israel (May 2026). Products enter Israel via grey-market channels only (confirmed by price aggregator listings). Honor Health app is listed as “Available” for Israel in Honor’s country and region support matrix - reflecting app ecosystem availability only, not corporate presence 122256.
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Israeli regulatory presence: The Israeli Ministry of Communications issues type-approval certificates only to Israeli-registered local representatives, requiring all smartphone importers to maintain a named importer-of-record entity within Israel. No named Israeli entity has been publicly identified as Honor’s importer of record; grey-market channels indicate that unnamed importer-of-record service providers handle regulatory compliance under the Ministry of Communications framework 12122.
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Corporate structure and foundational ties: Honor was not founded or incorporated in Israel. Headquarters and principal place of management are Shenzhen, China. No dual or legacy headquarters in Israel. No Israeli state ownership, government board appointees, government contracts, or critical national infrastructure designation in Israel. Huawei’s Israeli acquisitions (Toga Networks, HexaTier) were retained by Huawei post-divestment and were not transferred to Honor as part of the 2020 transaction; Huawei subsequently closed its Israel cloud division while retaining Toga Networks. A separately incorporated Israeli entity named “Honor Construction and Investment Company Ltd.” (Registration No. 514550144, Ramat Gan) has been confirmed as unrelated to Honor Device Co., Ltd. 2127282931.
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Profit repatriation: No disclosed revenue from Israel as a market. No named Israeli subsidiary through which Israeli-sourced profits would flow. No assessments or government designations characterising Honor’s significance within the Israeli economy.
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Israeli-Nexus Floor: The audit found zero factors present: Honor was not founded in Israel; headquarters and principal place of management are Shenzhen, China; no Israeli tax residency or PTE status; no beneficial ownership or control by Israeli capital.
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Civil society databases: Honor is not named in UN OHCHR business and human rights database (HRC Res. 31/36 and 53/25), A/HRC/59/23 Albanese report (48 corporate actors), Who Profits, DBIO 2024/2025 reports, PAX financier matrix, AFSC Investigate, BDS Movement boycott/divestment/pressure/grassroots lists, Norwegian Government Pension Fund exclusion list, Israeli Innovation Authority grant recipients, PTE status holders, or Israeli government procurement tender registries 24562578515354555758.
Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits
The strongest counter-argument is structural: Honor’s majority state ownership through Shenzhen SASAC creates theoretical indirect pathways if Shenzhen Smart City Technology Development Group or other state-linked shareholders held interests in Israeli companies. The audit checked the named major shareholders and found no documented Israeli operational subsidiaries among them. However, the 2020 spin-off consortium included approximately 30 dealer and distributor investors who were not individually enumerated in accessible sources; a comprehensive check of all 23+ Tianyancha-listed shareholders against Israeli entity registries was not possible with available documentation.
Grey-market importation through unnamed importer-of-record service providers creates residual uncertainty: the service providers who handle Honor’s regulatory compliance in Israel are not publicly identified. It is conceivable that an importer-of-record service provider could have its own Israeli settlement involvement that would indirectly benefit Honor’s product sales in Israel. However, the importer-of-record framework is a standard regulatory compliance mechanism in which the importer handles customs, taxes, and type-approval administration; the companies performing this function are typically logistics and trade compliance firms, not entities with settlement-enterprise involvement.
The Israeli-Nexus Floor analysis found zero factors present, establishing that Honor does not meet the minimum threshold criteria for Israeli incorporation, Israeli management, Israeli tax residency, or Israeli beneficial ownership that would automatically trigger a higher score.
Evidence limits: Privately negotiated trade finance arrangements, undisclosed reseller relationships, or sub-distributor networks not reflected in public corporate disclosures cannot be ruled out. However, the breadth of negative findings - across corporate structure, market presence, investment records, civil society databases, and government registries - establishes a strong evidentiary baseline.
Named Entities and Evidence Map
| Channel | Entity Checked | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Israeli subsidiaries | Honor Device Co., Ltd. in Israeli Companies Registrar (ica.justice.gov.il) | Not found 21 |
| Unrelated Israeli entity | ”Honor Construction and Investment Company Ltd.” (No. 514550144) | Confirmed unrelated 21 |
| Foreign subsidiaries | UN Global Compact participant profile | Only Mexico listed 24 |
| Shareholder Israeli operations | Named major shareholders (23+ including China Mobile, China Telecom, CICC, Aishide) | No Israeli operational subsidiaries documented 52 |
| Market share | Statcounter Israel (May 2026) | 0% - below detection threshold 2 |
| Import channels | Grey-market price aggregators | No official distribution; unnamed importer-of-record service providers only 12122 |
| UN databases | OHCHR (HRC 31/36, 53/25, A/HRC/60/19) | Honor absent 2455359 |
| Civil society | Albanese A/HRC/59/23, DBIO, Who Profits, AFSC, PAX, BDS | Honor absent 6257851 |
| Regulatory | Norwegian GPFG exclusion list, Israeli Innovation Authority, PTE status | Honor absent 53545557 |
Political: Political
Mechanism of Involvement
No political involvement mechanism was identified. The Political audit checked the following channels:
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Corporate communications: No official corporate statements from Honor Device Co., Ltd. regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict identified in a full review of the Honor press release archive (honor.com/global/news), covering product launches, MWC announcements, IPO planning, and leadership transitions. No statements identified on other major geopolitical conflicts including Russia-Ukraine, Xinjiang, or other human rights situations. Honor’s 2024 ESG Report covers carbon neutrality, Scope 3 emissions, supplier GHG management, green manufacturing, product recycling, privacy and security standards, and youth empowerment; no mention of Israel, Palestine, occupied territories, human rights in conflict zones, or any geopolitical conflict appears in the confirmed table of contents. Honor participates in the UN Global Compact as a signatory company. This silence is consistent across all geopolitical issues - it does not reflect a specific response pattern on Israel-Palestine 18606162.
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Operations in occupied territories: Honor maintains an official distributor (Cell Avenue/Sweetik) in Palestinian-administered Area A/B territory for the West Bank - not in Israeli settlements, East Jerusalem, or Golan Heights. Honor is not listed in any iteration of the UN OHCHR database of business enterprises involved in settlement activity (initial 2020 database, 2023 update per HRC Res. 53/25, September 2025 update listing 158 companies focused on construction, real estate, mining, and quarrying - sectors in which Honor as consumer electronics does not operate). Honor is not named in A/HRC/59/23 Albanese report (48 named corporate actors including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, HP, IBM, Elbit, Lockheed Martin, NSO Group, Palantir). Honor does not appear in Who Profits, AFSC Investigate, Al-Haq, or SOMO databases. Honor is not a named boycott target in BDS Movement priority or pressure target lists, which include Chevron, Intel, Dell, HP, Carrefour, AXA, Disney+, Xbox, RE/MAX, Sodastream, Reebok, Teva, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Expedia, Airbnb, Booking.com, Siemens, and Cisco 783560636465666768.
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Internal governance: No HR actions, lawsuits, or internal policies related to employee speech, union activity, or expression concerning pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli positions at Honor Device Co., Ltd. No algorithmic moderation decisions, content suppression, or editorial stances related to Israel-Palestine at Honor - consistent with Honor being a consumer electronics manufacturer, not a content platform. No labelling, sourcing, or categorization practices for products originating from OPT or settlements in Honor’s supply chain; no regulatory actions identified.
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Brand heritage and state partnerships: No evidence of Honor utilizing military heritage, defence sector ties, or state-security origins in commercial branding. No formal non-commercial partnerships with Israeli state academic or governmental institutions. No state honours from the Israeli government or documented hosting of Israeli government officials. No participation in “Brand Israel” promotional campaigns, Israel Ministry of Tourism partnerships, Israel Export Institute programs, or state-backed cultural/PR campaigns.
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Lobbying, advocacy, financing: No corporate lobbying related to regional policy, boycotts, or trade legislation regarding Israel-Palestine identified in US LDA disclosures, UK lobbying registers, FEC filings, or OpenSecrets databases. No material financial support, corporate donations, or sponsorships directed toward parastatal organizations, settlement groups, or military-welfare funds (FIDF, JNF/KKL, Im Tirtzu, Regavim, Lev Echad). No corporate resources, physical logistics, free services, or infrastructure directed to assist state, military, or state-aligned NGO efforts during periods of active conflict.
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Executive leadership footprint: CEO Li Jian (Huawei veteran, joined Honor 2021) has no identified FIDF, settlement-NGO, defence-industry, or Israeli advocacy affiliations. Chairman Wu Hui’s prior career in Shenzhen Water and Shenzhen Smart City contains no Israeli affiliations. Former CEO George Zhao and former Vice-Chairman Wan Biao have no identified Israeli ties. Board members Marc Andreessen and Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins of the legally distinct Honor Technology, Inc. (US home-care entity) have no identified FIDF, JNF/KKL, settlement-NGO, or Israeli defence-industry affiliations. No Honor executives have made personal donations, family foundation grants, or fundraising efforts directed toward Israeli regional advocacy groups, parastatal organizations, or military-welfare funds. No public statements, social media activity, op-eds, or signed letters by Honor Device Co., Ltd. executives regarding Israel-Palestine. No personal board seats, leadership roles, or advisory positions in geopolitical pressure groups or lobbying organizations (CFI, AIPAC, ADL).
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Distinct entities: Three legally distinct entities share the “Honor” name: (1) Honor Device Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, consumer electronics) - the audit target; (2) Honor Technologies (UK) Co., Ltd. (company number 13152943, wholesale electronics) - no settlement-activity link identified; (3) Honor Technology, Inc. (San Francisco, home-care technology company that acquired Home Instead in August 2021, investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, T. Rowe Price) - no Israeli settlement nexus identified 1618193369.
Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits
The strongest counter-argument is that Honor’s policy of silence on geopolitical conflicts - documented for Israel-Palestine, Russia-Ukraine, Xinjiang, and all other human rights situations - cannot be interpreted as either endorsement or complicity. A company that issues no statements on any conflict is not selectively enabling any particular occupation. This contrasts with companies that have issued statements, faced civil society pressure, and then maintained or amended their positions.
The entity-separation principle is particularly important here. Honor Technology, Inc. (San Francisco home-care company) and Honor Technologies (UK) Co., Ltd. are legally distinct from Honor Device Co., Ltd. Their activities, governance, and potential Israel-related conduct cannot be attributed to the consumer electronics entity under review.
However, a limitation exists in the grey-market importer-of-record structure: if unnamed Israeli entities handle Honor’s regulatory compliance in Israel and those entities have settlement involvement, a theoretical indirect benefit could flow to Honor’s Israeli market access. The audit found no evidence of this pathway and notes that importer-of-record functions are typically performed by logistics compliance firms, not settlement-enterprise entities. Nonetheless, the importer-of-record operators are not publicly documented.
Evidence limits: Private donor records, personal financial disclosures of executives and investors, and sub-distributor relationships are not fully captured in public sources. Comprehensive vetting of all ~30 original spin-off consortium investors against Israeli entity registries was not achievable with available documentation.
Named Entities and Evidence Map
| Channel | Entity Checked | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate statements | Full press release archive (honor.com/global/news) | No Israel-Palestine statements 1860 |
| ESG report | 2024 ESG Report table of contents | No Israel/Palestine/geopolitical content 61 |
| Palestinian distribution | Cell Avenue/Sweetik | Area A/B territory only; not settlements 35 |
| Settlement presence | West Bank, East Jerusalem, Golan Heights | No authorized resellers or contracts 356067 |
| UN databases | OHCHR (2020, 2023, 2025), A/HRC/59/23 | Honor absent 5663646566 |
| Civil society | Who Profits, AFSC, Al-Haq, SOMO, BDS (all lists) | Honor absent 786068 |
| Lobbying registers | US LDA, UK registers, FEC, OpenSecrets | No Israel-Palestine lobbying 60 |
| Military-welfare funds | FIDF, JNF/KKL, Im Tirtzu, Regavim, Lev Echad | No Honor donations or sponsorships 60 |
| Executive affiliations | Li Jian, Wu Hui, Zhao, Wan Biao (all rounds) | No Israeli defence, FIDF, or settlement-NGO affiliations 16181960 |
| Distinct entities | Honor Technology Inc. (US), Honor Technologies UK | No settlement nexus; legally distinct 16336069 |
BDS-1000 Score (V4)
| Domain | I | M | P | V-Domain Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Digital | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Economic | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Political | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
- V_MAX: 0.00 Sum_OTHERS: 0.00
- BRS Score: 0 Tier: E (Minimal)
All four domain scores are 0.00. No documented involvement was identified across any vector - military contracting, dual-use products, supply chain integration with defence primes, digital technology provision, economic presence, or political activity. V_MAX = 0.00, producing a BRS of 0 and Tier E (Minimal). This result is driven by the complete absence of documented nexus across all four audit domains. The methodology is evidence-only: claims require documented sourcing; “No public evidence identified” is used wherever checks found nothing; scores reflect verified activity only.
Methodology Note
- Evidence-only from four domain audits: Every factual claim in this dossier traces to one or more of the Military, Digital, Economic, or Political audit documents. No independent claims are made outside the audit record.
- Scale-free scoring: Impact (I) measures activity type severity; Magnitude (M) measures scale; Proximity (P) measures directness. V-Domain = I × M × P; V_MAX = maximum across domains; BRS = V_MAX + 0.5 × Sum_OTHERS. All three subcomponents are 0.00 because no involvement was documented on any vector.
- “No public evidence identified”: This phrase is used verbatim wherever the audits explicitly state that checks returned negative results. It represents the evidence floor - not a determination that involvement is impossible, but a record that the available public record does not document it.
- Temporal rule - divested operations mitigated: The November 2020 Huawei-to-Honor spin-off is treated as an entity separation. Huawei’s Israeli activities (Toga Networks, HexaTier, Huawei Israel R&D, Huawei Israel headhunting) are documented for Huawei, not Honor post-2020. No evidence of personnel or IP transfer from Huawei Israel to Honor was identified.
- Entity attribution - no transitive guilt: Honor Technology, Inc. (San Francisco home-care company), Honor Technologies (UK) Co., Ltd., and “Honor Construction and Investment Company Ltd.” (Ramat Gan) are legally distinct entities. Their activities are not attributed to Honor Device Co., Ltd. The separately incorporated Israeli entity has been confirmed as unrelated.
- Israeli-Nexus Floor: Zero factors present for Honor - not founded in Israel; headquarters in Shenzhen; no Israeli tax residency or PTE status; no Israeli capital ownership.
End Notes
Footnotes
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_(company) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13
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https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/israel ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/honor-unveils-four-layer-ai-architecture-and-forges-ahead-with-google-cloud-for-more-ai-experiences-at-vivatech-2024-302152861.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8
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https://www.honor.com/global/news/honor-ai-google-cloud ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7
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https://www.ohchr.org/en/business/bhr-database ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9
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https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5923-economy-occupation-economy-genocide-report-special-rapporteur ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8
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https://investigate.afsc.org/issue-companies/5 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9
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https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/huawei-selling-honor-brand-agent-dealer-consortium-keep-smartphone-unit-alive-2020-11-17 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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https://www.csis.org/analysis/huawei-honor-and-chinas-evolving-state-capitalist-tool-kit ↩ ↩2
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https://citba.org/article_content.asp?edition=2§ion=1&article=5 ↩ ↩2
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-23/china-mobile-buys-stake-in-huawei-smartphone-spinoff-honor ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://www.reuters.com/technology/chinese-smartphone-maker-honor-gets-investment-china-mobile-2024-08-21 ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/HONOR%20Device%20Co.,%20Ltd./22634 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/HONOR%20Device%20Co.,%20Ltd./22634 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202311/22/WS655dfd17a31090682a5ef8f6.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
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https://www.honor.com/global/news/announcement ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8
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https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Li%20Jian/24295 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7
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https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202011/1207121.shtml ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://en.checkid.co.il/company/dGYAlNl-514550144 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8
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https://unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/participants/149632-Honor-Device-Co-Ltd- ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
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https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025-DBIO-V-report-1.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
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https://www.elbitsystems.com/news/elbit-systems-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2024-results ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
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https://www.elbitsystems.com/sites/default/files/2025-03/28032024e.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-huawei-paying-top-dollar-for-israeli-engineers-1001420781 ↩ ↩2
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https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-huawei-closes-israel-cloud-division-1001535050 ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13152943 ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3222600/huawei-spin-honor-steps-chip-development-new-design-unit-shanghai ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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https://www.courthousenews.com/demand-soars-for-israels-battle-tested-weapons-tech-despite-global-criticism-of-its-wartime-conduct ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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https://www.timesofisrael.com/idfs-encrypted-cellphones-to-get-upgrade ↩ ↩2
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https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-876327 ↩ ↩2
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https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sjjqgh0wp ↩ ↩2
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https://www.elbitsystems.com/news/elbit-systems-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2024-results ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://www.elbitsystems.com/sites/default/files/2025-03/28032024e.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://www.paxforpeace.nl/publications/all-publications/companies-arming-israel-and-their-financiers ↩ ↩2
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https://www.honor.com/global/honor-esg/supplier-responsibility ↩ ↩2
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https://support.appsflyer.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408735106193-Additional-SDK-integration-guide ↩ ↩2
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https://mod.gov.il/en/departments/defense-procurement-directorate-dpd ↩ ↩2
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https://defense-update.com/20140101_idf-spend-100-million-modernizing-secure-smartphones.html ↩ ↩2
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https://siliconangle.com/2016/12/28/huawei-acquires-israeli-database-security-startup-hexatier-42m ↩
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https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-sessions/session31/database-hrc3136 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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https://www.opensanctions.org/datasets/ps_ohchr_settlement ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://www.nbim.no/en/responsibility/excluded-companies/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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https://www.un.org/unispal/document/business-database-26sep25 ↩
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https://www.honor.com/global/news/honor-alpha-mwc-2025 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9
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https://www.honor.com/content/dam/honor/de/honor-esg/esg-report-2024/ ↩ ↩2
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https://law4palestine.org/summary-of-the-un-special-rapporteurs-report-on-corporate-complicity ↩ ↩2
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/1/un-report-lists-companies-complicit-in-israels-genocide-who-are-they ↩ ↩2
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https://www.gicj.info/post/analysis-a-hrc-59-23-report-on-israel ↩ ↩2









