As a result, the IMOD announced its withdrawal from the exhibition and confirmed it will not establish a national pavilion. Israeli defence industries that decide to participate independently will nevertheless receive the Ministry’s full support.
The Ministry stressed the wider implications of the decision, stating: “At a time when Israel is engaged on multiple fronts against Islamist extremists and terrorist organisations – forces that also threaten the West and international shipping lanes – this decision by Britain plays into the hands of extremists, grants legitimacy to terrorism, and introduces political considerations wholly inappropriate for a professional defence industry exhibition.”
