Barkan, who has been involved in Palestinian protests in the occupied territories since the early 2000s, used a sledgehammer and a glass hammer to break windows. Inside the building, he sprayed two Hebrew messages in red paint translating as “Elbit=Nakba” and “stop Elbit”.

Barkan told the court he wanted to cause “structural damage… so the business could not carry on as usual”.

“This would have a direct impact on the supply chain,” he said, “on the way that these killer machines are being supplied to butcher people in Gaza and elsewhere.”

Barkan said he was “not someone who enjoyed smashing up anything” but it was necessary to shut Elbit down because it was key to Israel’s “system of oppression, domination and terror” in Palestine.

He told jurors he had been shot, beaten, arrested and detained by the IDF during demonstrations in the occupied territories, but had never been convicted of any offence.

The court heard that 20 window units were smashed or destroyed during the action. Red paint was sprayed on the outside and inside of the building, which had to be closed while repairs were made. The owner of the building, Sedgemoor District Council, which purchased it as a commercial investment in 2020, said it did not consent to any damage.

Barkan and Sinai, however, said they had seen comments from the council’s opposition Labour group in 2021 calling for the authority to divest from the property over human rights concerns. Sinai was asked by her barrister Owen Greenhall if she believed the council would have agreed to the damage. “Knowing the full extent of Elbit’s crimes… yes,” she responded.

The attorney general is currently seeking at the Court of Appeal to stop protesters using the defence that they honestly believed organisations affected by direct action would have consented had they known the full facts.

The court was told by Greenhall that there is “a very significant connection” between Elbit Systems UK and the Israeli state. A video played to the jury showed the Israeli ambassador, Tzipi Hotovely, attending the opening of Elbit’s factory in Bristol in the summer of 2023. Hotovely was seen describing products produced by the UK company as “ours” and referring to the firm as an Israeli “defence technology company”.

A document of facts agreed by the prosecution and defence shows that Elbit UK and two of its UK-listed subsidiary companies – UAV Engines Ltd and Instro-Precision Ltd – have been granted 51 licences by the UK government to export military equipment, including drone engines, targeting systems and surveillance systems, to the Israeli state between 2016 and 2021. UAV Engines was granted a further licence in February 2022 to export military aero-engines to Israel Aerospace Industries, which is owned by the Israeli state.

The court was told by Greenhall that Elbit UK’s Israeli parent company Elbit Systems Ltd supplies 85% of land-based equipment used by the Israeli military, with the firm marketing its drones as the “backbone of the Israeli Defence Force”.

The case also saw a senior Elbit executive give evidence in a UK court for what is thought to be the first time.

Alan Wright, Elbit UK’s vice president of sales and marketing, said the company's main customers were in the UK, where it provided technology to the aerospace, defence and homeland security sectors. He said the company shipped products to its parent company in Israel for support and repairs. But he insisted it did not supply the Israeli military: “[Elbit UK] does not provide products to the IDF.”

Wright, a director of UAV Engines, denied the UK company had a connection to the Israeli state: “[Elbit UK] operates in the UK as a UK-listed company and therefore operates within the bounds of UK law.”

Under cross-examination by Greenhall, Wright accepted there was a “very significant overlap” between senior staff at Elbit UK and its Israeli parent company “in certain areas”. He also accepted there was a “very large overlap” in the product portfolios of the two companies.

Two of the three executive directors of Elbit UK are also directors of Elbit Systems Ltd.

Wright also accepted that Elbit UK’s profits “flow back to the parent company” in Israel, which has ultimate control over the UK company.