Officials from the Israeli Defence Ministry and Regional Cooperation Ministry have stated that the planned participation of Israeli defense firms to the IDEX Conference in Abu Dhabi has been cancelled. The Israeli Defense Ministry announced that the reason for this is Israel’s ban on international travel, which was put into force on 26 January to counter the growing surge in COVID-19 cases.
A spokeswoman from the Israeli Defense Ministry declared that a special request was issued to the Regional Cooperation Ministry to ask permission for the travel of military personnel to Abu Dhabi. The spokeswoman said that, unfortunately, our special request for permission was declined by the ministry.
Elsewhere, a spokesman for the Regional Cooperation Ministry said that the request of the Israeli Defense Ministry had to be denied, even though it wishes well for the advancement and promotion of Israeli defense activity. The spokesman also underlined that, considering the current surge in COVID-19 cases, it was forced to reject the request in order to maintain unprejudiceness in ministerial decisions.
The spokesman of the Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis recently announced the minister cancelled his participation in Dubai’s Gulfood trade exhibition, while also adding that the minister indicated none would be flying out of the country, due to COVID-19 measures.
