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PARIS/JERUSALEM: France shut down the four main Israeli company stands at the Paris Airshow for refusing to remove offensive weapons from display, in a move condemned by Israel and highlighting tensions between the traditional allies.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday that 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.
The stands were those being used by Elbit Systems, Rafael, IAI and Uvision. Three smaller Israeli stands, which didn’t have hardware on display, and an Israeli Ministry of Defense stand, remain open.
France, a long-time Israeli ally, has gradually hardened its position on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu over its actions in Gaza and military interventions abroad.
French President Emmanuel Macron made a distinction last week between Israel’s right to protect itself, which France supports and could take part in, and strikes on Iran it did not recommend.
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 said 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.”
IAI’s president and CEO, Boaz Levy, said the black partition walls were reminiscent of “the dark days of when Jews were segmented from European society.”
Two US Republican politicians attending the air show also criticized the French move.
Talking to reporters outside the blacked-out Israeli defense stalls, US Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders described the decision as “pretty absurd,” while Republican Senator Katie Britt criticized it as “short-sighted.”
The French prime minister’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Meshar Sasson, senior vice president at Elbit Systems, accused France of trying to stymie competition, pointing to a series of contracts that Elbit has won in Europe.
“If you cannot beat them in technology, just hide them right? That’s what it is because there’s no other explanation,” he said.
Rafael described the French move as “unprecedented, unjustified, and politically motivated.”
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.”

New Delhi said Monday its diplomats were helping some Indian students relocate out of harm’s way in Iran, which has come under days of deadly Israeli bombardment.

Tehran has hit back with strikes against Israel since it unleashed waves of attacks against Iran on Friday, sparking global alarm that the conflict could erupt into a regional war.

New Delhi, which has relations with both countries, has sought to relocate its citizens within Iran after Tehran closed its airspace.

“The Indian Embassy in Tehran is continuously monitoring the security situation and engaging Indian students in Iran to ensure their safety,” a foreign ministry statement said.

“In some cases, students are being relocated with (the) Embassy’s facilitation to safer places within Iran,” the ministry added.

There are around 10,000 Indian citizens in Iran, according to government data last year, while figures from 2022 listed more than 2,000 students in Iran.

New Delhi on Friday said it stood ready “to extend all possible support” to both countries, as it urged them to “avoid any escalatory steps.”

“Existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy should be utilized,” said foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal.

Iran’s health ministry has reported at least 224 people killed in Israeli strikes, while Israeli authorities have tallied more than a dozen deaths since Tehran began its retaliatory attacks Friday.