All six Israeli companies banned from Dubai Airshow after mysterious ‘technical review’
The organizers did not elaborate on the decision, which follows recent European restrictions on Israeli defense firms.
Dubai Airshow has withdrawn registrations for all six Israeli defense companies due to take part in next month’s biennial arms show after a “technical review”, confirms its organizer. No further details were provided by Informa Markets, which organizes the show.
“The \[Israeli\] exhibitors that were previously coming won’t be participating,” said Tim Hawes, managing director of Informa Markets, in comments to AFP. “There was a technical review which we do of all companies that take part in the show,” he added, claiming the decision had been made by the airshow’s technical committee.
The decision was made on the two-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
The Dubai Airshow is one of the world’s largest aviation events and will see 1,500+ exhibitors and 148,000+ industry professionals from 150 countries gather to explore aerospace innovation. Jerusalem had its first national pavilion at the event in November 2021 with a delegation who at the time included Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Tomer Astronautics, Nir Or, and UVision.
This isn’t the first time Israeli companies have run into trouble at international events, especially in the defense sector. Earlier this year, Israeli companies were barred from displaying at the Paris Air Show, with Elbit Systems, Rafael, IAI, and Uvision each having their stands covered up. Soon after, the UK blocked representatives of Israel’s Ministry of Defense from participating in the DSEI defense exhibition. Elsewhere in Europe, a reported Dutch veto is being considered on Israeli participation in a large, upcoming military exhibition in Rotterdam.
