Ex-Amazon Employee slams silence on colleague's Hamas capture

Former Amazon employee Joshua Burgin, now Chief Product Officer at Upwind, criticized Amazon's silence on a colleague's Hamas capture, citing institutional failure. Burgin, once AWS Outposts GM and among Amazon's first 50 employees, moved to Israel after October 7, motivated by Zionism and rising antisemitism.

283 days ago, 30-year-old Amazon employee Sasha Trufanov was abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz; his family members have since been released. Amazon has been criticized for its silence on his situation. Burgin explains that Amazon prefers to stay quiet, letting business results speak, but this approach may fail in public opinion.

Amazon has stayed active in Israel, even hosting an AWS Summit in Tel Aviv recently, displaying photos of the hostages and urging Bring Them Home. Nonetheless, their public statements have been infrequent or nonexistent.

Calcalist has contributed to this report