Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm
Israel-based multinational cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has become a focal point of controversy in Turkey, caught in the crossfire between the Islamist ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition amid rising anti-Israel sentiment. The company has been labeled a national security threat, reflecting both the AKP’s hardline rhetoric and the center-left main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) demands for a severing of commercial ties with Israel-linked companies.
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escalated his anti-Israel discourse — going so far as to claim without evidence that Israel poses a direct threat to Turkish sovereignty — the opposition took the matter further, pressuring the government to cut economic and technological partnerships with Israeli companies. This growing campaign, which often veers into antisemitic territory, has targeted private firms operating in Turkey, with Check Point emerging as a primary subject of criticism.
Check Point, headquartered in Tel Aviv and known for its firewall and network security solutions, became a flagship issue for the opposition, which accused the AKP of awarding public contracts to the company despite its alleged ties to the Israeli government. CHP lawmaker Yüksel Mansur Kılınç brought the issue to the Turkish Parliament, questioning the risks associated with Check Point’s software in government institutions, particularly military entities.
Kılınç raised the alleged ties to the Israeli military and intelligence of Gil Shwed, the co-founder and executive chairman of Check Point Software Technologies. “Gil Shwed worked in the Israeli Military Intelligence Unit AMAN, specifically in Unit 8200, where the company’s first product was developed. Check Point’s vice president, Dorit Dor, [chief technology officer] also served for many years as a cyber espionage officer in the Israeli Defense Forces [IDF],” the lawmaker claimed.
Kılınç directed a parliamentary inquiry to the Turkish Defense Miinistry, asking how long military institutions had been using Check Point products and whether the government had assessed potential security risks. In response, on November 27, 2024, Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said the General Staff and associated military units had stopped using Check Point firewall solutions as of June 2016. He further emphasized that no products of Israeli origin were used in any critical military infrastructure.
Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler’s letter informing parliament that the military had stopped using Check Point products at General Staff headquarters and its attached military units:
CheckPoint_CHP_Defense_MInistry_Turkey
However, the CHP continued its scrutiny, revealing that in December 2019 Turkey’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance had awarded a public tender for Check Point software licenses to Trio Entegrasyon Bilişim Teknolojileri Ticaret AŞ, a local partner of Check Point. Eylem Ertuğ Ertuğrul, another CHP lawmaker, criticized the government’s ongoing engagement with Check Point, saying that many state institutions listed Trio as a key provider in their cybersecurity infrastructure.
“When we examine this company [Trio], we see that many government institutions and ministries are listed among its references. If we look at how the company describes itself, it says, “We are the local solution partner of the Israeli-based ‘Check Point’ company,” said Ertuğrul during deliberations on a cybersecurity bill in the parliamentary Defense Committee on January 15.
Check Point maintains two offices in Turkey, one in Istanbul and the other in Ankara. It also has a local subsidiary under the name Check Point Yazılım Teknolojileri Pazarlama AŞ, which was established in May 2002. According to the latest trade registry declaration, the board of directors is composed of Israeli nationals Miryam Steinltz, Josef Itzkovitz, Saar Joskovitch, Sharon Schusheim and US national Philip Levine. All listed their residences as Israel.
Trade registry records of Check Point’s Turkish company in Istanbul show that its owners all reside in Israel:
check_point_trade_registry
The controversy surrounding Check Point has gained traction among other political parties as well. On March 5, 2025 Sema Silkin Ün, a lawmaker from the Islamist Gelecek (Future) Party, condemned the government’s collaboration with the Israeli company. “How is it possible — despite the fact that our president issued a warning from this very podium on October 1, saying, ‘Israel’s next target is Turkey’ — that the systems responsible for protecting our country’s most critical data are entrusted to an Israeli company?” she asked in parliament.
The anti-Israel sentiment extended beyond Check Point. Other foreign technology companies such as Microsoft, Oracle and SAP were also labeled as security risks. Islamist lawmaker Mesut Doğan from the Saadet (Felicity) Party, a party with strong ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, accused these firms of aiding Israel.
“The American company Oracle, which has declared its support for Israel, currently has the databases of most of our ministries and public institutions. … Another software company that supports Israel, SAP, despite previously using domestic software, has acquired the entire infrastructure of Kızılay [Turkish Red Crescent] for billions of dollars,” Doğan ssaid in a speech in parliament on October 8, 2023.
“Finally, there is Check Point, an Israel-based company with close ties to Oracle. Strangely enough, this company is responsible for the cybersecurity of our public institutions. Even the database infrastructure used by our parliament unfortunately belongs to Microsoft, another company that supports Israel,” he added.
Despite the political uproar, the financial impact of Check Point’s presence in Turkey remains unclear. The company does not disclose revenue by country, but its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) division generated approximately $1.12 billion in 2024, up from $1.05 billion in 2023. The company’s total revenue for 2024 was reported at $2.6 billion, reflecting a 6 percent year-over-year increase.
The controversy is part of broader anti-Israel and anti-Western waves sweeping Turkey following the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict. President Erdogan has openly sided with Hamas, calling its militants “resistance fighters” defending not only Palestinian territories but also Turkey’s territorial integrity. The AKP government has taken further steps, severing trade ties with Israel, intensifying pressure on the Jewish minority in Turkey and pursuing unspecified legal actions against dual nationals serving in the Israeli military.
As political parties weaponize economic and technological ties with Israel, firms like Check Point face an increasingly hostile environment in Turkey. The implications extend beyond cybersecurity, signaling a deepening rift between Turkey and Israel as well as a broader convergence of anti-Israel policies across the political spectrum. This shift exacerbates concerns about the rise of antisemitism among Turkey’s 85 million predominantly Muslim population.
