TEL AVIV: The organizers of the UAE’s IDEX defense show are lobbying Israel to trying to reverse its decision not to let the Israeli delegation take part in the event.
The decision was made by a special government committee after Ben Gurion International Airport was ordered closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee, formed to approve special requests to fly to and from Israel, refused to approve the three flights scheduled to take some 270 Israelis from the defense industries and the Defense Ministry to the UAE, starting last weekend.
The committee’s decision was a big surprise to all the parties as it approved flights to Israel of some 500 judo fighters for a tournament. In recent weeks the three big Israeli defense companies Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Elbit systems and Rafael invested significant sums in building booths for the exhibition. The companies and the people in charge in the ministry of defense on exports had scheduled many meetings even before the official opening of the exhibition.
Said Al-Mansouri, CEO of the IDEX show, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, obtained by the Calcalist economic daily in which he seeks approval of the Israelis flights to the exhibition, due to open Sunday. Almansuri writes: “We understand the complexity of travel these days, but believe it is a special circumstance. We as organizers make every effort to ensure the health of all exhibitors and visitors to the exhibition, adhere to all safety restrictions against the Corona plague and seek the assistance of the Prime Minister.”
Israeli sources say that only a “miracle” can solve the problem. They are not believers in miracles, but they say this one might come at the last minute in the shape of intervention by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli participation in IDEX is in the yard of Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Relations between Gantz and Netanyahu have reached depths never been before seen in Israeli politics. This was made clear by recordings from a cabinet meeting in which the two are heard exchanging shouts and accusations.
The IDEX show would have demonstrated how fully committed Israeli companies are to doing business with the UAE. IAI planned to focus on comprehensive operational solutions – systems of systems, for a wide range of uses in the air, sea, land, space and cyber domains. The company hoped to promote communication and local cooperation with local government agencies, defense forces, local industries and academics, to further expand the company’s activity in the region.
Boaz Levy, IAI’s president, said the company sees its activities in the region as an opportunity to promote cooperation within the regional eco-system and is open to promoting defense as well as civilian endeavors on a range of topics, such as space and satellites, air defense and rocketry, intelligence, robotics, UAVs, cyber etc.
Rafael also planned to show off the company’s technologies. Ariel Karo, EVP for marketing and business development, told BD. “The UAE is a very advanced country and they are after new technologies all the time. Add to this the fact that Israel and the UAE have common enemies and that further explains their huge interest in our technologies,” he said. “They want more advanced technologies in the field of AI, big data, cyber and HLS, in addition to a long list of defense technologies.”
In particular, the Rafael VP said the UAE shows great interest in the company’s air and missile defense capabilities. “Our company developed two tiers of the Israeli multi-tiered air defense system — the Iron Dome and the David’s Sling — and they know about the super capabilities of these two systems.”
Rafael also planned to participate in the parallel naval exhibition, Navdex. “Rafael has a long list of naval systems that have already caught the attention of the UAE. We will present our unmanned weapon stations that can be very effective in countering swarm attacks of manned or unmanned boats,” Karo said.
So now we wait to see if the aforementioned “miracle” happens.
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