Ireland boycotts Elbit, and its PM’s plane can’t land in fog

The plane, model Falcon 6X, is manufactured by the French company Dessau and usually includes a system called FalconEye located in the nose and helps pilots in cases of fog and difficult weather conditions. However, because the system is manufactured by the Israeli company Elbit, the authorities in Ireland insisted on purchasing the plane when the system was removed from it.

Ireland is one of the most pro-Palestinian countries in the European Union, and its distaste for Israel crosses political camps and led the country to try and lead the suspension of relations between Israel and the EU.

As a security company, Elbit is accused in Ireland of complicity in what the government calls “genocide” in the Gaza Strip. The plane was purchased at a high cost, replacing another plane that was used for the flights of the Irish Prime Minister and other officials.

A former pilot in the squadron responsible for the government plane told the “Irish Times” that the Israeli system “gives the plane the ability to land in fog, while other planes without the system will have to be diverted to alternate airports.”

The Irish website TheJournal, which revealed the matter, said that the removal of the system “could harm the ability of the plane to land in fog and severe weather conditions”.

The plane has the capacity to fly about 14 passengers. The French company Dessau defines Elbit’s system as one that “gives an unprecedented ability to navigate in all types of weather, night or day.” The system transmits the information from the sensors back to the cockpit.

While the government of Ireland told the website that “there is no limit to the operational capabilities of the plane”, the Irish website says that “informed sources believe that the disadvantage of the Israeli system limits the range of options available to the pilots of the plane”.

The Irish decision to boycott Israeli products, announced in the name of resistance to the war in Gaza, stands out against the background of the fact that four new helicopters ordered from Airbus also include Israeli technology. It is a Hellonix system jointly produced by Elbit and Airbus, and it is considered a “critical” system for helicopter pilots, and one that cannot be removed or confiscated. A modern Irish naval patrol plane that was ordered also has Israeli radar systems.