Japan Press Weekly

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2025 August 27 - September 2 [POLITICS]

Citizens opposing genocide in Gaza call for withdrawal of gov’t endorsement of ‘Cybertech Tokyo 2025’ exhibition

In opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, three civil organizations, including the Network against Japan Arms Trade (NAJAT), on September 1 urged the Japanese government to withdraw its endorsement of a global cyber security event in which a former Israeli intelligence agency senior officer and Israeli military firms’ executives will appear as speakers.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Tatsumi Kotaro joined in this action.

Backed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the event, “Cybertech Tokyo 2025” exhibition, that covers technological innovations and solutions to combat threats within the global cyber arena will take place on September 4 in Tokyo. A roster of speakers in the event includes many people from the Israeli government and military as well as from Israel’s military companies. They are, for example, a former commander of the Israeli military’s intelligence unit 8200 which reportedly engaged in a cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear facility in June and a former senior officer of the Mossad spy agency which is believed to have carried out assassinations of key figures in the Palestine liberation movement.

Furthermore, among sponsor companies was Israel’s defense technology company, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd, which openly broadcasts video footage of the genocide in Gaza to promote its products.

At a meeting with government officials in the Diet building, activists of the three organizations demanded that the Japanese government at the very least withdraw its endorsement and that speeches by controversial figures be cancelled. In response, government officials said that the event is an opportunity to learn about cutting-edge cyber technologies and has “nothing to do with” Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza.

JCP Tatsumi criticized the Japanese government’s backing for the event as an indirect contribution to validating the genocide in Gaza.