Israeli weapons technology firm Elbit Systems has unexpectedly shut down its branch in Bristol, England, following repeated vandalism by the U.K.-designated terrorist group Palestine Action.
Elbit opened the manufacturing and development facility in July 2023. The company’s lease was not due to expire until 2029, The Guardian reported on Saturday.
Earlier this week, the Guardian paid a visit to the site in the Aztec West business park on the outskirts of the city where the M5 and M4 meet, reporting it was deserted.
Apart from a security guard stationed outside the premises, the Elbit Systems site was completely vacant, the report read.
Elbit Systems U.K. Limited is a subsidiary of Haifa-based Elbit Systems, the primary provider of the IDF’s land-based equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Before Palestine Action was proscribed in the United Kingdom, the Bristol facility was targeted dozens of times by the anti-Israel organization. Its activities included “blockades using lock-ons [where protesters lock themselves to an inanimate object], occupying the roof, smashing windows and dousing the site in red paint,” the Guardian reported.
Another Elbit facility in Filton, Bristol, was also subject to Palestine Action harassment. Twenty-four individuals are awaiting trial on charges including criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary in relation to this second facility.
The Guardian went on to report that the company’s latest accounts show that it made an operating loss of £4.7 million ($6.35 million) in 2024, compared with a profit of £3.8 million ($5.13 million) in 2023.
Elbit Systems U.K. sold its subsidiary Elite KL in the West Midlands in 2024 after its profit fell by 75% in 2022 due to an increase in security costs, according to the report.
This branch was targeted by Palestine Action as well, and the new owners of the Tamworth site—where Elite KL was located—said they would not have any association with Elbit.
In 2022, Elbit sold Ferranti P&C, another Elbit Systems U.K. subsidiary located in the Manchester area, after 18 months of protests by Palestine Action, as well as anti-Israel group Oldham Peace and Justice, according to the Guardian.
Palestine Action carried out its first attack on July 30, 2020, against Elbit Systems U.K.’s headquarters in London.
The vandals covered the building in green paint and graffiti that read: “Shut Elbit down” and “F**k Elbit.” The next morning, four members occupied the offices, The Sunday Times reported at the time.
The Israeli firm was also targeted in Poland this week by two individuals who hurled red paint at Elbit’s booth at the 2025 International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Kielce.
The assailants, a man and a woman, could be seen in footage posted online shouting in Polish and waving Palestinian flags. They also released a foul-smelling substance toward the Israeli booth, according to Israel National News.
