French authorities block Israeli defense booths at Eurosatory after permitting participation

French authorities blocked the entrances to all Israeli defense-industry booths overnight at the Eurosatory arms fair, using wooden boards to seal the exhibits. The move came after France had already barred official Israeli participation, refused to allow a national pavilion, and limited Israeli companies to showing only air-defense systems, not offensive weapons.

Israeli companies had made extensive changes to comply with those conditions, but the exhibition management still shut down all Israeli stands despite the adjustments. The Defense Ministry called the move “a cynical, unequal and unsurprising step” meant to exclude Israeli technology from an international fair, adding that its quality is proven daily across the Middle East. It also said Israel would continue expanding defense exports worldwide, “despite French attempts to hide from the world the Israeli technological superiority.”

Eurosatory is the world’s leading international exhibition for land warfare and air-land warfare industries. It is held every two years near Paris, and this year’s event is focused on advanced combat technologies, intelligence, cyber, and advanced defense systems.

Israeli defense firms have taken part regularly since 1998. France first banned their participation in 2024, citing the IDF operation in Rafah during the Iron Swords War, but a French court later overturned that ban, ruling it was “prohibited discrimination.”