U.S. Slaps Media Embargo on Israeli Export Event
www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2400866&C=mideast

In a sign of lingering bilateral tension over Israeli defense trade
controls, the U.S. government has imposed a media blackout on an event
Israeli planners had hoped would showcase fruits of a yearlong,
interministerial effort to revamp the nation's export licensing system.

Sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Defense's (MoD's) new Defense Export
Control Bureau and the U.S. government-industry-administered Society of
International Affairs, the Dec. 5-6 Defense Trade Controls Conference brings
together for the first time policy officials and business executives from
both countries to clarify and synchronize respective export control
procedures.

"As far as we are concerned, this is a good news event," an Israeli MoD
official said. "But as much as we wanted to spread the word on the progress
we've made in adjusting our procedures, the Americans insisted on keeping a
low profile."