France Bars Israel From Major Paris Defense Expo

Israel’s Defense Ministry spokesperson said Monday evening that the French government had informed the ministry of its decision to ban the official participation of the State of Israel in the EUROSATORY exhibition. The international exhibition, one of the most prestigious in the world, is scheduled to take place later this month in Paris. As a result, the Defense Ministry will not be able to take part in the exhibition or set up a national pavilion there.

The French decision includes a ban on the participation of government representatives in the exhibition, a ban on opening an Israeli national pavilion, and a ban on Israeli defense industries displaying offensive weapons systems, allowing only air defense products. This, they said, is being applied unequally compared to other industries around the world and runs contrary to accepted norms at international exhibitions.

The Defense Ministry said this is "a shameful decision carrying a strong odor of political and commercial considerations, and unfortunately, it is not surprising. The decision aligns in a troubling way with a consistent trend in French conduct in recent years, which places France again and again on the wrong side of history."

"France, which prides itself on the values of liberty and democracy, is acting in complete opposition to the values it claims to represent, while supposedly hiding behind a fabricated diplomatic rationale in order to exclude Israeli offensive weaponry from an international exhibition, even though its quality is far superior to the French equivalent. This comes after Israeli technologies demonstrated exceptional performance in precision and effectiveness against terrorist organizations and regimes that threaten not only Israel, but regional and global stability as a whole."