Last year, Israeli weapons producers were initially barred from attending a prestigious arms industry show in Paris over objections to the war in Gaza. This year, the Israelis were allowed in — but then walled off from other global competitors.
Israel’s Ministry of Defense said on Monday that the French government built a black wall overnight around some weapons systems displayed by Israeli companies, blocking them from view at the Paris Air Show, one of the world’s largest arms exhibitions.
It marked the second time in as many years that French authorities have sought to stop Israel from marketing its tools of military might amid its massive bombing campaigns in Gaza. And it comes at a fraught moment between the two countries as President Emmanuel Macron of France considers whether to recognize a Palestinian state, a move that Israel strenuously opposes.
The decision did not appear to be linked to Israel’s new military offensive in Iran, which aims in part to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program. France also has long worried about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The wall was built “in the middle of the night, after Israeli defense officials and companies had already finished setting up their displays,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The wall was put up after Israeli officials objected to what they described as an earlier order by the French government to remove offensive weapons — a category that typically includes missile and rocket launchers, tanks, drones, cannons and a range of ammunition — from Israeli displays. The air show is expected to draw as many as 300,000 visitors, and feature defense displays from more than 2,400 companies in 48 countries.
“This outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations,” the Israeli statement said.
French officials insisted that Israeli authorities, including the Israeli embassy in Paris, were aware of France’s terms weeks in advance, and they said that the Israeli booths that had been blocked would be able to reopen if they complied with those terms.
Israeli authorities had been warned — and had agreed — that Israeli booths would not be allowed to display offensive weapons, said a French government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters. It was in line with a similar decision that France made at an arms show last year to mark its opposition to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Four out of nine Israeli exhibitors at the air show have complied with those terms and were open Monday, including a booth run by the Israeli defense ministry itself, the French official noted. But five others failed to comply, the official said, which the French authorities discovered at the last minute, pushing them to decide to block those booths.
François Bayrou, France’s prime minister, told reporters at the air show that the decision, like the one at the Eurosatory arms show last year, stemmed from France’s desire to express “distance and disapproval” with Israel’s offensive in Gaza — not with the recent strikes on Iran, which he said were “not at all of the same nature” because of the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program.
“Israel has the right to defend itself,” Mr. Bayrou said. But, he added. “We have also said that the situation in Gaza is morally unacceptable.” France is one of several European countries that have voiced increasingly sharp condemnation of Israel over its conduct in Gaza.
France’s foreign ministry noted on Monday that France exports components to Israel for defensive use, most notably material used for Israel’s protective Iron Dome. But the ministry said that France does not export weapons that could be used in Gaza — a vow that some critics have questioned — and that it could not let Israeli companies promote such weapons on French soil.
Spokespeople for the show, held at Le Bourget Airport outside Paris, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last year, Israel was initially banned from attending the weapons show outside Paris, after the French government canceled their invitations because of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. A day later, a court in Paris ruled that excluding Israel’s was discriminatory and ordered the ban to be rescinded.
In January, during a short-lived cease-fire in Gaza, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he was assured by President Emmanuel Macron of France that Israeli weapons companies would be allowed to participate in this year’s arms show.
After Israel began new, intensified airstrikes against Iran last week, Mr. Macron said “we don’t want a Middle East with a nuclear-armed Iran” and that Israel had a right to defend itself.
But he also said that Gazans should not live under long-term Israeli occupation or mistreated. Israel’s military recently lifted an 80-day blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza as its population approached the brink of starvation.
“We stand for peace, security, and stability for everyone in the region,” Mr. Macron said.
Lara Jakes, based in Rome, reports on diplomatic and military efforts by the West to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. She has been a journalist for nearly 30 years.
Aurelien Breeden is a reporter for The Times in Paris, covering news from France.
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