Iran strike puts question mark over Israeli firms at Paris Air Show

JERUSALEM — Israeli defense companies may be forced to cancel their participation in the Paris Air Show after Israel’s strike against Iranian nuclear and military installations overnight.

The attack led Israel to announce the closure of its airspace on Thursday night and Friday night and evacuated its main airport while diverting flights to airports in neighboring countries. Israeli security officials currently estimate that the civilian airport will remain closed for at least 3 days.

Officially, there is no change in the intention of major Israeli weapons companies to participate in the marquee Paris event, which starts on Monday.

The countries largest aerospace firm, Israel Aerospace Industries, on Friday announced the cancellation of a Monday briefing by CEO Boaz Levy through a public relations agency. A spokeswoman there said the company was evaluation the situation, with a final decision on participation dependent on “developments.”

The Israeli national airport closure is due to Israel’s preparations for an Iranian Missile attack. Several hours after the Israeli strike, Iran responded by launching about 100 unmanned aerial vehicles towards Israel, with all UAV’s intercepted outside Israeli borders, according to the Israeli government.

Tzally Greenberg is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has experience reporting on economic affairs as well as defense and cyber companies.

耶路撒冷——以色列连夜袭击伊朗核设施和军事设施后，以色列国防公司可能被迫取消参加巴黎航展的计划。

袭击事件导致以色列宣布于周四晚和周五晚关闭领空，并疏散了其主要机场，同时将航班改道至邻国机场。以色列安全官员目前估计，该民用机场将至少关闭三天。

官方消息称，以色列主要武器公司参加将于周一开幕的巴黎军火展的意图没有改变。

以色列最大的航空航天公司以色列航空航天工业公司（Israel Aerospace Industries）周五通过一家公关公司宣布取消原定于周一由首席执行官博阿兹·莱维（Boaz Levy）举行的新闻发布会。该公司一位发言人表示，公司正在评估情况，是否参加最终决定将取决于“事态发展”。

以色列国家机场关闭是由于以色列为应对伊朗导弹袭击做准备。以色列政府称，在以色列发动袭击数小时后，伊朗随即向以色列发射了约100架无人机，所有无人机均在以色列境外被拦截。

特扎利·格林伯格是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。他拥有丰富的经济事务以及国防和网络安全公司报道经验。