JERUSALEM and LONDON — The participation of Israeli government and defense-industry officials in the November Dubai Air Show in the United Arab Emirates has come into question after event organizers banned them from the show, Israeli defense industry officials confirmed to Defense News at the DSEI expo in London on Wednesday.

According to Israeli companies, the official reason given was related to security concerns.

The organizers’ move became public a day after Israel carried out an air strike targeting Hamas negotiators in an attack in Doha on Tuesday.

The Dubai Airshow is one of the largest aerospace exhibitions in the Middle East that takes place every two years.

Israeli defense companies left open the possibility of attending the event in hopes that the situation would change in the coming weeks.

Qatari officers present on the DSEI show floor told Defense News they were “very angry” following the news of Israel’s attack on their country’s capital and that it was “upsetting” to think that Israeli weapon makers were on the floor near them at the exhibition.

Since normalizing ties in 2020, the UAE and Israel have deepened their defense cooperation in several fields. The following year was marked by several major defense projects inked between the two nations.

Elbit Systems opened its first office in the UAE; the state-owned firm IAI and Emirati defense conglomerate Edge Group signed a contract to develop an unmanned surface vessel together; and Rafael formed a joint venture with the UAE-based G42 group in 2021 to develop artificial-intelligence and big-data technologies.

In 2024, IAI and Edge Group also signed an agreement to establish a center in the UAE to maintain and market the Israeli company’s advanced electro-optic arrays.