JERUSALEM \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
The reason, according to the ministry\u2019s statement, is \u201cthe British government recently imposed unilateral restrictions on the official Israeli government and military representatives participation in the exhibition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel didn\u2019t specify in its defense ministry\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The British government\u2019s steps have angered the Israeli government, which stated in its defense ministry\u2019s statement that officials in London had \u201dintroduced political considerations wholly inappropriate for a professional defense industry exhibition.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201coffensive weapons\u201d used by Israel in Gaza, but no official statement had been issued by the exhibition organizers on the subject.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>, which is expected to take place this November.<\/p>\n