Google has launched a new GCP cloud region in Tel Aviv, Israel.
“Today, we are excited to announce that the new Google Cloud region in Israel is open,” the company said in a post this week. “The Google Cloud region in Tel Aviv (me-west1), joins our network of cloud regions around the world, delivering high-performance, low-latency services to customers of all sizes and across industries.”
The company officially announced plans for an Israeli cloud region in April 2021 after it was awarded the $1.2 billion tender to provide cloud services to Israeli government agencies alongside AWS.
Google’s data center in Moshav Bnei Zion, built by ServerFarm, faced resistance from locals over health and environmental concerns.
The company has three facilities in the country in Petah Tikva, Modi'in, and Bnei Zion, and is aiming to develop a fourth in Beit Yehoshua despite opposition from its own employees that the search giant’s technology may enable discrimination against Palestinians.
AWS and Microsoft are both developing cloud regions in the country, while Oracle launched a region in Jerusalem in October 2021. Alibaba is reportedly considering expanding into Israel.