Organizers erected black partitions around the booths of state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and private makers Elbit Systems, Rafael and Uvision after French security officials demanded that missiles and other “kinetic” systems be removed, two industry sources said.
Israel’s defense ministry called the decision “outrageous and unprecedented”, accusing Paris of using political pretexts to shield domestic companies from competition.
IAI chief executive Boaz Levy likened the barriers to “the dark days when Jews were segregated in Europe”.
Photographs showed graffiti on one partition reading: “Behind these walls are the best defense systems protecting Israel today […] The French government is hiding them from you in the name of discrimination.” The section was later repainted white.
Three smaller Israeli stands showing only electronic gear, and an Israeli defense-ministry information booth, remained open.
France – a traditional ally that has grown critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the Gaza war and strikes in Iran – said only that authorities had acted “for security reasons”.
The organizers, France’s Aerospace Industries Association, said discussions were under way to “find a favorable outcome”.
US Republican governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, touring the show, called the enclosure “absurd”, while Senator Katie Britt said it was “short-sighted”.
Elbit vice-president Mesher Sasson accused France of trying to “stymie competition”, noting recent European contracts won by Israeli firms. Rafael said the move was “unjustified and politically motivated”.
The Paris Air Show, one of the world’s largest aerospace gatherings, runs until Sunday.
French President Emmanuel Macron last week urged all parties in the Middle East to “exercise maximum restraint and de-escalate”, even as he reaffirmed Israel’s “right to self-defense”.
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Source: Reuters, The Guardian