Israeli defense companies have been banned from the biennial Dubai Airshow after a “technical review,” organizers said on Tuesday
All six Israeli companies registered to exhibit at the Nov. 17-21 event had their participation withdrawn, with organizers providing no further explanation for the move.
“There was a technical review which we do of all companies that take part in the show,” AFP quoted Tim Hawes, managing director of show organizer Informa Markets, as saying. He added that the decision was made by the airshow’s technical committee.
The decision comes two years into the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian terrorist organization’s mass invasion of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, in which it led a massacre of some 1,200 people and kidnapped another 251.
Israel established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020. Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan also established diplomatic ties in the agreement forged during the first Trump administration.
The Dubai Airshow is one of the world’s largest aviation events. Jerusalem inaugurated its first-ever national pavilion at the event in November 2021. The Israeli Defense Ministry led a delegation of defense industry representatives, who at the time included Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Tomer Astronautics, Nir Or and UVision.
