Labour just banned Israel from the UK’s biggest arms fair – but Israeli weapon companies will still attend

The Labour Party government has now confirmed that it has decided to bar Israel’s official delegation from taking part in the UK’s largest arms fair. Israel had been planning to attend the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) in London this September.

While campaigners have welcomed the news, they’ve also slammed the UK government for its “cowardly” handwringing – since it was actually the Israeli government that pulled its country pavilion from the event.

Israel disinvited from DSEI arms fair

The Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) opens at London’s ExCeL centre on 9 September. DSEI takes place biennially. Its website has been indicating the presence of a dedicated Israeli country pavilion.

Now however, the Labour Party government has confirmed that it has barred the Israeli official delegation from attending the event. An AFP news report carried a statement from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) which read:

We can confirm that no Israeli government delegation will be invited to attend DSEI UK 2025.

It continued that:

The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza is wrong.

There must be a diplomatic solution to end this war now, with an immediate ceasefire, the return of the hostages and a surge in humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Pro-Palestine and anti-arms trade campaigners have been highlighting how allowing an official delegation from the Israeli state to attend DSEI whilst it is committing a genocide and repeated attacks in the West Bank would have been an egregious act of complicity.

However, responding to the news, they’ve also underscored that banning the Israeli government delegation does not go far enough. Notably, the government is still permitting Israeli arms companies to take part in the event.

Israeli arms companies still taking part

Earlier this week, Campaigns Against the Arms Trade  (CAAT) had identified a number of arms giants complicit in Israel’s genocide that are planning to attend DSEI.

These included several Israeli companies such as Rafael and Israel’s largest arms company, Elbit Systems, who make 85% of the drones used by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). Other Israeli defence companies that have armed and sustained the genocide, such as IAI and Uvision, will still be able to attend. They will be exhibiting and selling their weapons and equipment which they grotesquely market as “battle tested”.

Alongside them are many UK and international companies complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. For instance, this includes F35 manufacturers Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. Israel is using F35s to drop 2000lb bombs on children in Gaza.

CAAT has lambasted the UK government for continuing to facilitate Israeli arms companies at DSEI:

While CAAT welcomes the government’s decision not to invite an official Israeli delegation to DSEI, it is cowardly and symbolic. It was not the UK government that decided to pull the plug on the Israel country pavilion, but the Israeli government. Meanwhile, it is welcoming companies such as Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defence company who make 85% of the drones used by the Israeli Defence Force, Rafael, and Israel Aerospace Industries to market their genocide tested weapons to a global audience.

This is the government pretending to take action while safeguarding the profits of arms dealers. At the same time it’s banning an official Israeli delegation, it is on the cusp of awarding a £2bn contract to Elbit Systems. These are not the actions of a government committed to taking action against Israel. These are the actions of a government complicit in a genocide.

Israel is committing genocide. It has created a man-made famine. Babies are dying from starvation. Israel is bombing hospitals and killing journalists. These heart breaking atrocities are war crimes. Nothing could be clearer.

It is also clear that our government is not committed to taking any action that disrupts the profits of arms dealers. It is therefore down to campaigners across the country coming together to take action to uphold international law on the streets of East London.

Protesters gearing up to call out DSEI ‘business as usual’

Echoing this, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has also argued that in the midst of a genocide, it is outrageous that these companies attempt to conduct “business as usual”. It is calling for the UK government to cancel DSEI entirely.

The group has called a protest on 10 September at 5pm outside the DSEI fair. It aims to create a wall of noise for the arms dealers profiting and enabling Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

PSC deputy director Simon Foster said:

This is a welcome step, and is testament to all those who have campaigned against DSEI’s role in arming Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. It shows our protests and campaigns are having an impact. But it falls far short of the arms embargo and end to all military cooperation that the government should be enacting to fulfil its duties under the Genocide Convention.

The government is continuing to allow Israeli arms companies to exhibit their weapons of ethnic cleansing in London, alongside other arms companies that enable and profit from genocide. DSEI should be cancelled in its entirety.