Israeli weapons display walled off at Paris Air Show

JTA -The Israeli Ministry of Defense condemned a decision by French authorities to erect a black wall around some Israeli defence industry stands at the Paris Air Show on Monday, 16 June.

Pro-Israel advocates graffitied the black wall with messages praising the technology as protecting Israelis from Iranian missiles before the messages were themselves obscured.

The Paris Air Show, which is one of the largest and most prestigious exhibitions in the aerospace and defence industry, blocked the Israeli stands following a demand by anti-Israel activists to remove offensive weapons systems from display, which it rejected.

“This outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations,” said the Israeli ministry of defense. “This comes at a time when Israel is fighting a necessary and just war to eliminate the nuclear and ballistic threat facing the Middle East, Europe, and the entire world.”

The push to exclude the Israeli display predated Israel’s attack on Iran, which began early last Friday morning. Last year, eight months into the war in Gaza, Israeli weapons producers were first barred before being allowed in under court order. This year, they were admitted after agreeing to show defensive weapons only.

Last Friday, a French appeals court rejected a bid by activist groups to ban the Israeli participants over their alleged role in the war in Gaza.

The blocked stands include displays by Israeli missiles manufacturers Elbit Systems, Rafael, IAI, and Israeli drone producer Uvision. Three smaller Israeli stands and an Israeli ministry of defense stand remained open among 75 weapons production companies with displays including military jets, helicopters, and drones participating at the weeklong show that opened on Monday at Le Bourget Airport.

A French official told Associated Press that the decision came from the General Secretariat for Defense and National Security, under the prime minister, and that the Israeli exhibitors were told weeks in advance of the show that certain types of equipment were prohibited.

“Last night, after our booth was set up and ready for the show, we were asked to remove some of our systems from the booth,” said Boaz Levy, the chief executive of IAI. “We tried to negotiate with them, but it seems these orders came from the highest levels in Paris, and this morning, when we arrived at our booth, we were shocked to find out that we were blocked by black walls built overnight, which reminds us of the dark days when Jews were segmented from European society.”

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed last month to penalise Israel if its ongoing offensive in Gaza and months-long blockade on humanitarian aid continued. Last Friday evening, Macron announced that he would postpone a United Nations conference set for this week on Palestinian statehood due to the conflict between Iran and Israel. He has expressed France’s support for Israel’s right to self-defence in the conflict.

The organiser of the Paris Air Show said that it was in talks to try to help “the various parties find a favourable outcome to the situation”, according to Reuters. The Israelis have reportedly been told that if they remove some of the weapons from the display, the wall will be taken down.

Israel’s defense ministry has rejected that argument. “The French are hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition, weapons that compete with French industries,” it said.