Tel Aviv Tribune Net correspondents
Paris- A few days after the deadly Israeli occupation bombing of the displaced persons camp in Rafah and the accompanying international outrage and massive demonstrations throughout France, the French government announced, on Friday, the cancellation of the participation of 74 Israeli companies in the “Eurosatori” defense exhibition.
This leading global event – for all defense and security professionals – is considered the most important and largest in the world. It is held every two years under the auspices of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces to combine supply and demand in this field. It is supposed to open its doors from June 17 to 22, in the suburbs of Paris.
France’s decision is a painful blow to the heart of the Israeli industry, because the exhibition represented a golden opportunity for Israel to demonstrate its new knowledge and innovations in the field of armament and to display the Israeli defense expertise that it was boasting of all over the world, under the slogan “The Invincible Army.”
Cancellation decision
The management of the company “Cogis Events”, which organizes the exhibition, said that “by decision of the government authorities, there will be no pavilion for the Israeli defense industries at Eurosatory 2024.”
For his part, French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sebastien Le Cornu, explained to local media that “conditions are no longer available to receive Israeli companies at the French exhibition, in the context of the President of the Republic’s demand to stop military operations in Rafah.”
Locorno added, “According to the statements of the President of the Republic, there is an urgent need to reach a ceasefire that guarantees the protection of the population in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and full access to humanitarian aid.”
Israel responded quickly to this decision, and Israeli War Council Minister Benny Gantz – in a tweet via his account on the “X” platform – called on France to “reconsider” this ban, noting that he had discussed the matter with French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, “and it confirmed… However, this decision would ultimately reward terrorism, and I asked France to cancel the ban.”
More than 1,700 exhibitors are scheduled to participate this year from 62 countries, to meet manufacturers and startups from around the world, and public and private actors in the field of defense and security, to exchange experiences with the best experts, institutions and NGOs, and discover the latest in technology, innovations and understanding. Perspectives and changes in this sector.
Advance moves
This comes in the context of a broad campaign led by several associations supporting Palestine in France, through which they called on the government and the exhibition organizers not to receive Israeli companies and to stop the supply of French weapons to Israel, as well as to prevent the trade in weapons that are likely to be used by the occupation army in Gaza, under penalty of prosecution.
The “Boycott Arming of Israel” organization organized a massive demonstration, last Thursday, in front of the French Land and Air Defense and Security Industries Group (GICAT) in Paris, to confirm these demands.
Loic Fornel, an activist in the organization, said, “When we organized this protest on Thursday, we learned the next day that the participation of Israeli companies had already been cancelled, which means that our movements and the demonstrations in which we participated had finally borne fruit.”
Fornell added in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “We organized a mobilization for several months demanding that Israeli weapons not be used and displayed at the Eurosatory 2024 exhibition. We held public meetings and hundreds of people phoned the exhibition organizers to urge them to take this step.”
The French activist believes that, “For the CEOs of Israeli companies who said that we had just tested our weapons on the residents of Gaza, and that we had proven their combat effectiveness on the battlefield, the best step for them would have been to go to arms sales centers around the world to make huge amounts of money, and they were really hoping to Attending this exhibition and concluding major business deals.”
Mobilization victory
The activist in the “Boycott the Arming of Israel” organization described the French government’s decision as a “victory” because “were it not for the demonstrations, the government would have allowed the participation of these companies that represent the Israeli occupation. We have previously seen how France supported the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip from the beginning, and this support is unwavering.” Despite all the diplomatic statements trying to mitigate the severity of the collusion.”
But despite this victory, Loic Fornell stressed that they will remain vigilant over the next two weeks to maintain pressure on all organizers, in anticipation of the participation of Israeli representatives of companies or individuals from the Israeli Ministry of Defense with the aim of communicating, expanding their network of relationships and even purchasing equipment.
The spokesman pointed out that the next step is to increase pressure on all companies that will be present during the exhibition so that they do not meet Israeli buyers, “otherwise we will not hesitate to organize other demonstrations during the days of the exhibition or threaten to cancel it completely to exert maximum pressure.”
When asked whether the organization or its members had received any kind of threats or restrictions, Fornell said, “We have not been subjected to anything of the kind so far because of our positions, but the possibility of this happening in the future is very real because there is great dissatisfaction with the representatives of Israel in France.” Because this government decision is considered a heavy and dangerous defeat for them.”