Israeli defense companies will not be permitted to participate in the Netherlands’ largest military exhibition, Hebrew media reported on Wednesday.
The NEDS event, held annually in Rotterdam and focused largely on the naval sector, has in recent years hosted Israel’s biggest defense contractors, including Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems and Rafael. But the event’s organizers wrote in a recent letter that this year’s event, scheduled for November 20, will bar Israeli firms, a Globes report said, citing Israeli sources.
Israeli sources confirmed to Globes that they will not attend. Organizers cited "security and organizational" reasons for the ban and did not respond to Globes’ requests for comment.
According to the report, the decision appears to be linked to the Gazoo war and is part of a broader Dutch policy shift relating to Israel.
The Netherlands has been pushing within the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
to impose economic and trade sanctions on Israel. In May, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp backed a legal review of the EU Association Agreement with Israel — the framework governing bilateral ties — which later found "indications" that Israel had violated the human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
requirements of the agreement. Since then, the Netherlands has sought to suspend Israel’s participation in the EU’s Horizon research funding program and reduce trade links.
The Netherlands already halted direct arms exports to Israel several months after the Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...-led October 7, 2023, massacre that launched the war in Gaza. It continues, however, to supply Israel indirectly with F-35 fighter jet parts via third countries, according to Globes.
The Dutch ban follows other recent European restrictions on Israeli defense firms. In June, several Israeli companies were barred from displaying at the Gay Paree Air Show, despite La Belle France’s President Emmanuel Macron saying in January that Israeli firms would be allowed to attend.
The Defense Ministry condemned that last-minute decision by the event organizers, acting on behalf of the French government.
Last October, after Macron’s government said it would prevent Israeli companies from exhibiting at the Euronaval arms show, then-defense minister Yoav Gallant called his actions "a disgrace to the French nation and the values of the free world."
The effort to put restrictions on the exhibitors was ultimately blocked by a court.
Macron’s administration had also tried to restrict Israeli companies at a land defense and security exhibition five months earlier, but the decision was likewise overturned by a court.