The French Defense Ministry suggests that the decision is linked to Paris’ opposition to Israel’s continued invasion of Rafah.
France has banned Israeli companies from participating in the annual Eurosatory arms and defense industry fair to be held next month in Villepinte, near Paris, event organizers and French authorities said .
“By decision of government authorities, there will be no stand for the Israeli defense industry at the Eurosatory 2024 exhibition,” organizers Coges Events said on Friday.
The French defense ministry suggested the move was linked to Paris’ opposition to Israel’s continued assault on Rafah in southern Gaza.
“Conditions are no longer ripe to welcome Israeli companies to the fair at a time when the president calls on Israel to cease its operations in Rafah,” the ministry told the Reuters news agency.
Seventy-four Israeli companies were expected to attend the June 17-21 event at the exhibition center near Paris’ main international airport, with Coges previously announcing that around ten of them would display weapons.
Last week, a group of activists issued a legal warning and urged Coges to take steps to avoid buying and selling weapons that could be used in “crimes” committed in Gaza or other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory.
ASER, Stop Arming Israel, Urgence Palestine and the France-Palestine Solidarity Association also warned that profits from the fair would “strengthen the economic power of companies likely to participate in these crimes.”
Coges told the AFP news agency that it was “a show solely intended for the presentation of defense and security equipment… and in no case a place for transactions.”
In a social media post Friday, Israeli War Minister Benny Gantz said he told French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal that the decision to ban an Israeli delegation from the defense fair “rewards in ultimately terrorism.”
I just finished speaking with the French Prime Minister @GabrielAttal.
Above all, I expressed my appreciation for his determined and principled stance against alarming and increasing levels of anti-Semitism in France, particularly since October 7, and asked him to continue to remain…
– Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) May 31, 2024
France’s announcement comes just days after Israel bombed a displaced persons camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, sparking international outrage and widespread protests in France.
President Emmanuel Macron also said he was “outraged” by the Israeli air raid which killed 45 people in the camp.
In previous weeks, France joined other Western countries in urging Israel not to invade Rafah, which has become home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forcibly displaced from other parts of Gaza.
Israel ignored these warnings and launched a major offensive against Rafah, displacing around a million people from the city. The assault, which saw Israeli forces take control of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, also worsened the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the United Nations’ highest court – ordered Israel to end its attacks on Rafah.
At least 36,284 Palestinians have been killed and 82,057 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7.