France boycotts Israeli booths at major Paris security expo

French authorities sealed off all Israeli booths at the Le Bourget Air Show last night (Monday) with barriers and are preventing access to any visitors to the area. In fact, the authorities hid all displays of the Israeli systems: the French move resembles the days before the Holocaust when Jews were banned from establishing and managing businesses.

Dov Gil-Har reported on Kan 11 that the 55th air show in Paris will open this morning. This follows repeated legal battles over the past two years, during which the Macron government attempted to prevent the opening of Israeli booths at various security fairs, and a court overturned their decision.

Among the exhibitors at the fair: Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems, and Rafael, which intended to showcase the innovative laser system for intercepting rockets. The air show in Paris is a prestigious event held at Le Bourget Airport near Paris. Its main purpose is to showcase military and civilian aircraft to potential customers.

The Ministry of Defense stated: Last night, a day before the opening of the air show in Paris, the exhibition organizers, on behalf of the French government, ordered the removal of offensive weaponry from the booths of Israeli defense industries, contrary to standard practice at security exhibitions worldwide.

Following the directive of the Ministry of Defense's CEO, Major General (Ret.) Amir Baram, the ministry informed the organizers that it strongly rejects this demand. In response, they built a black wall that blocks the Israeli booths and creates a separation between the Israeli industries' booths and many other booths (Turkish, Chinese, and others). This unilateral action was carried out in the dead of night after representatives from the Ministry of Defense and the industries had completed preparing the booths and the Israeli display.

This is an outrageous and unprecedented decision that reeks of political considerations. This comes at a time when the State of Israel is conducting a necessary and just war to eliminate the nuclear and ballistic threat posed to the Middle East, Europe, and the whole world. The French are cloaking themselves in so-called political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weaponry from an international exhibition, to favor industries from France. This is particularly relevant in light of the impressive and accurate performances demonstrated by Israeli technologies in Iran.