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.
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