Turkish Opposition Presses Government on Israeli-Linked Cybersecurity Firm Check Point

Israel-based cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has become a focal point of political controversy in Turkey, according to a Nordic Monitor report. The report says the company is caught between the Islamist ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition amid rising anti-Israel sentiment, and that it has been labeled a national security threat. It links this label to both the AKP’s hardline rhetoric and demands from the center-left main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to sever commercial ties with Israel-linked companies.

According to the report, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escalated his anti-Israel rhetoric, claiming without evidence that Israel poses a direct threat to Turkish sovereignty. The opposition pressed the government to cut economic and technological partnerships with Israeli companies. The report says this campaign, which often veers into antisemitic territory, has targeted private firms operating in Turkey, with Check Point emerging as a primary subject of criticism. It also reports that Erdogan has openly sided with Hamas, calling its militants “resistance fighters.”

Check Point, headquartered in Tel Aviv and known for its firewall and network security solutions, became a flagship issue for the opposition. The CHP accused the AKP of awarding public contracts to the company despite what the report describes as the company’s alleged ties to the Israeli government. CHP lawmaker Yüksel Mansur Kılınç raised the issue in the Turkish Parliament, questioning the risks of Check Point software in government institutions, particularly military entities. Kılınç also raised the alleged ties of Gil Shwed, co-founder and executive chairman of Check Point, to Israeli military intelligence. He claimed that Shwed worked in AMAN’s Unit 8200, where the company’s first product was developed, and that Check Point vice president Dorit Dor, identified as chief technology officer, served for many years as a cyber espionage officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. These claims were Kılınç’s own, and the report presents them as allegations (Proverbs 18:17).

Kılınç also directed a parliamentary inquiry to the Turkish Defense Ministry, asking how long military institutions had used Check Point products and whether the government had assessed potential security risks. On November 27, 2024, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler told parliament in a letter that the General Staff and associated military units had stopped using Check Point firewall solutions as of June 2016. He also said that no products of Israeli origin were used in any critical military infrastructure.

The CHP continued its scrutiny and revealed 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, described as a local partner of Check Point. CHP lawmaker Eylem Ertuğ Ertuğrul said many state institutions listed Trio as a key cybersecurity provider. On January 15, during deliberations on a cybersecurity bill in the parliamentary Defense Committee, she quoted Trio’s own description of itself: “We are the local solution partner of the Israeli-based ‘Check Point’ company.”

The report notes that Check Point maintains two Turkish offices, in Istanbul and Ankara, and a local subsidiary, Check Point Yazılım Teknolojileri Pazarlama AŞ, established in May 2002. According to the latest trade registry declaration, the subsidiary’s board of directors includes Israeli nationals Miryam Steinltz, Josef Itzkovitz, Saar Joskovitch, Sharon Schusheim, and US national Philip Levine, all of whom listed their residences as Israel.

The controversy has also drawn other parties. On March 5, 2025, Sema Silkin Ün, a lawmaker from the Islamist Gelecek (Future) Party, condemned the government’s engagement with the Israeli company. Asking how systems protecting critical national data could be entrusted to an Israeli company, she referred to a warning that the president had issued from the parliamentary podium on October 1, saying “Israel’s next target is Turkey.” The report also says that Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP were labeled security risks. Mesut Doğan of the Saadet (Felicity) Party, which the report says has strong ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, accused these firms of aiding Israel in a parliamentary speech on October 8, 2023.

The report states that the financial impact of Check Point’s presence in Turkey remains unclear, because the company does not disclose revenue by country. Its Europe, Middle East and Africa 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, a 6 percent year-over-year increase.

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