France to bar Israeli firms from Eurosatory defense expo
The decision is due to French President Emmanuel Macron calls for a cease-fire in Gaza and will affect several Israel companies.
France will block Israeli companies from participating in an upcoming European defense exhibition, officials confirmed to Al-Monitor on Friday, as relations between the two countries deteriorate over the Gaza war.
The French Defense Ministry said that Israeli companies will not be participating in the upcoming Eurosatory defense exhibition, citing Paris' call for a halt of operations in Rafah.
“The conditions are no longer met to receive Israeli companies at the French show, in a context where the President of the Republic is calling for Israeli operations to cease in Rafah,” said the ministry in a statement to Al-Monitor, adding that Paris believes “it is urgent to obtain a ceasefire which will ensure the protection of the populations in Gaza, the release of all the hostages and full access to the humanitarian aid.”
Eurosatory is a major defense and security exhibition in Paris. This year’s event will run from June 17 to 21.
The event’s website listed the following Israeli firms as participants: unmanned aerial systems developer Aeronautics, autonomous drone company Airobotics and computing solutions provider Aitech.
Aitech and Airobotics both had statements on their websites as of Friday describing their upcoming participation in Eurosatory. The companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
France under President Emmanuel Macron has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s war in Gaza. Macron condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war and killed 42 French citizens, but has been calling for a cease-fire since November.
Last week, France expressed support for the International Criminal Court after its prosecutor announced the pursuit of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior officials on both sides of the war.
Macron has been vocal in his opposition to Israel’s ongoing operations in southern Gaza’s Rafah. In a Monday post on X following the Israeli strike on a Rafah displacement camp, Macron said, “These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” and reiterated his call for a cease-fire.
In February, France sanctioned 28 Israeli settlers in relation to attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
Macron, who took office in 2017, previously sought to avoid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, focusing more on Lebanon, but has sought a greater role since the start of the Gaza war.
