Israeli defense ministry withdraws from major UK arms exhibition

JERUSALEM — Israel will not set up a national pavilion at the DSEI UK 2025 exhibition scheduled to take place in London Sept. 9-12, the Israeli Ministry of Defense announced on Friday.

The reason, according to the ministry’s statement, is “the British government recently imposed unilateral restrictions on the official Israeli government and military representatives participation in the exhibition.”

Israel didn’t specify in its defense ministry’s statement what the restrictions are, but defense sources told Defense News that the restrictions include a ban on government and military personnel from attending the exhibition and from placing signage with the name of the Israeli defense ministry or its entities in the national pavilion.

The British government’s steps have angered the Israeli government, which stated in its defense ministry’s statement that officials in London had ”introduced political considerations wholly inappropriate for a professional defense industry exhibition."

The British measures only restrict Israeli government officials and have not imposed any official restrictions on Israeli defense companies, which so far have no intention of canceling their footprint.

Executives from Israeli defense companies who spoke with Defense News claim that the only discussion they experienced with the exhibition organizers concerned the display of “offensive weapons” used by Israel in Gaza, but no official statement had been issued by the exhibition organizers on the subject.

This is the third European defense exhibition in which Israel has been penalized. Defense News recently reported that Israeli companies were banned from participating in the Dutch NEDS exhibition , which is expected to take place this November.

In June, the Israeli pavilions at the Paris Air Show were blocked with black walls after being asked not to display what were labeled “offensive weapons.”

European governments have grown increasingly alarmed over Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza. A joint statement co-signed by the European Union and the United Kingdom this month decried a “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza, calling on the Israeli government to facilitate outside aid flowing to the civilian population, and urging Hamas to release all hostages from its Oct. 7, 2023 “without delay and precondition.”

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——以色列国防部周五宣布，以色列将不会在定于9月9日至12日在伦敦举行的DSEI UK 2025展览会上设立国家馆。

根据该部声明，原因是“英国政府最近单方面限制以色列政府和军方官方代表参加展览”。

以色列国防部的声明中没有具体说明限制措施是什么，但国防消息人士告诉《防务新闻》，这些限制措施包括禁止政府和军方人员参加展览，以及禁止在国家馆内放置带有以色列国防部或其下属机构名称的标牌。

英国政府的举措激怒了以色列政府，以色列国防部在其声明中表示，伦敦官员“引入了与专业国防工业展览完全不相符的政治考量”。

英国的措施仅限制以色列政府官员，并未对以色列国防公司施加任何正式限制，而这些公司迄今为止也没有撤出其在以色列的业务的打算。

接受《防务新闻》采访的以色列国防公司高管声称，他们与展览组织者进行的唯一讨论是关于展示以色列在加沙使用的“进攻性武器”，但展览组织者没有就此发表任何官方声明。

这是以色列第三次在欧洲防务展上受到处罚。《防务新闻》近期报道称，以色列公司被禁止参加预计将于今年11月举行的荷兰NEDS防务展。

今年6月，以色列在巴黎航展上的展馆被黑墙封锁，此前以色列方面被要求不要展示被贴上“进攻性武器”标签的展品。

欧洲各国政府对以色列在加沙的战争行为日益感到担忧。本月，欧盟和英国共同签署了一份联合声明，谴责加沙“灾难性”的人道主义局势，呼吁以色列政府为向平民提供外部援助提供便利，并敦促哈马斯“毫不拖延、不附加任何条件”地于2023年10月7日释放所有人质。

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。