France has closed the four main Israeli company booths at the Paris Air Show for apparently showcasing bombs and other offensive weapons, underscoring rising tensions between the traditional allies.
The walls appeared overnight ahead of the air show's opening Monday, visually isolating Israeli pavilions from dozens of other international exhibitors.
The instruction came from French authorities after Israeli firms failed to comply with a direction from a French security agency to remove offensive or kinetic weapons from the stands, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The stands were being used by Elbit Systems, Rafael, IAI and Uvision.
The booths were blocked off by black tarps for showing "offensive weapons," including those used in Gaza, which allegedly violated terms made with Israel, a French government source told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Three smaller Israeli stands, which didn't have hardware on display, and an Israeli Ministry of Defense stand, remain open.
France, a traditional Israeli ally, has gradually hardened its position on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu over its genocidal actions in Gaza and military interventions abroad.
France and Israel have had frosty relations in recent months, with French President Emanuel Macron increasingly critical over Israel's war in Gaza.
On Friday, following Israeli strikes on Iran, Macron said France's support for Israel was not unconditional and that Paris has the right to disagree with some of its decisions.
Israel's Defense Ministry said it had categorically rejected the order to remove some weapons systems from displays, and that exhibition organizers responded by erecting a black wall that separated the Israeli industry pavilions from others.
This action, it added, was carried out in the middle of the night after Israeli defense officials and companies had already finished setting up their displays.
"This outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations," the ministry complained in a statement.
"The French are hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition – weapons that compete with French industries," it claimed.
Meshar Sasson, senior vice president at Elbit Systems, condemned the French decision.
"If you cannot beat them in technology, just hide them, right? That’s what it is because there’s no other explanation," he said, pointing to a series of contracts that Elbit has won in Europe.
Rafael described the French move as "unprecedented, unjustified and politically motivated," adding it fully supported the Israeli Ministry of Defense's decision not to comply with the order to remove some equipment from display.
The air show's organizer said in a statement that it was in talks to try to help "the various parties find a favorable outcome to the situation."
A French appeals court ruled Friday against activist groups who sought to block Israeli companies from participating in the show due to the war in Gaza.
Sylvain Pavillet, a lawyer working with the air show organizers, said the final decision on who is allowed to exhibit lies with the French government, not the show itself.
"The fair is not the one who decides which countries are allowed to go to the show or not," he told The Associated Press (AP). "That decision belongs to the government. We are not a state. We are a commercial company."
The Paris Air Show, held at Le Bourget Airport, is one of the world's largest and most prestigious events for the aerospace and defense industry.
