TEL AVIV: Israel on Monday condemned the “outrageous and unprecedented” move by organisers of the Paris Air Show, who it said were acting on the behest of the French government and had ordered Israeli firms to remove offensive weapons systems from display.
In a statement today, the Israel Defence Ministry said prior to the opening of the exhibition at the Le Bourget Airport on Monday, large black walls were erected around Israel’s offensive weapons displays overnight.
According to the ministry, the move breaks with standard global practices and was carried out overnight after Israeli defence officials had already completed setting up their booths, the Times of Israel reported.
The Israeli ministry further accused the French side of hiding behind “political considerations” to sideline Israeli technologies that compete with French defence industries, particularly as Israel is waging what it called a “necessary and just war” against regional threats.
The report stated that organisers erected black walls to isolate the Israeli pavilions from the rest of the exhibition, including those of Turkey, China, and others.
Jerusalem Post carried the statement in which Israel Defence Ministry Director-General Amir Baram called on France to retract the black blocked-off walls, citing how Israel was being singled out for discriminatory treatment when aggressive authoritarian countries like China and Turkey received no such treatment.
The Paris Air Show, which began in the early 20th century, is the world’s oldest and largest aerospace event. The 55th edition of the event, which is held every two years, is being held from June 16 to 22.
According to a Reuters report, France has shut down the stands of four main Israeli companies for displaying for apparently displaying bombs and other offensive weapons.
Boaz Levy, CEO and President of the state-owned Israeli Aerospace Industries, said he was “shocked” by the development.
“As the son of a Holocaust survivor, I am very disturbed that not even 100 years after the Holocaust, our people are being discriminated against due to their religion,” Levy was cited as saying by Israeli state media TPS.
“This type of behaviour is not acceptable and discriminates against us as Israelis and Jewish people since all of the other participants in this Airshow do not have these limitations. We are shocked by the behaviour of the Paris Airshow organisers and the French authorities who blocked our team from entering our booth,” Levy said.
The Israeli state media reported that the country set an all-time record for defence exports in 2024, with sales reaching USD 14.795 billion. International demand for Israel’s military technology has surged as European countries increased their defence budgets in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. According to figures released by its Defence Ministry, 54 per cent of Israel’s arms sales in 2024 were to Europe.
Israel launched preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on Friday, citing intelligence that Tehran had reached “a point of no return” in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
According to Israeli defence officials, Iran has developed the capacity to rapidly enrich uranium and assemble nuclear bombs, with sufficient fissile material for up to 15 weapons. Israeli intelligence also exposed a covert program to complete all components of a nuclear device, TPS reported.
According to CNN, the deadly conflict between Israel and Iran has entered its fourth day, with both sides firing new waves of missiles overnight amid international pleas for diplomacy and de-escalation. Iran’s strikes early this morning have hit an Israeli oil refinery and damaged part of the power grid. (ANI)
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