Israeli Defense Firms Protest French Restrictions at Paris Arms Show

Israeli defense companies at the Eurosatory exhibition in France protested what they described as French harassment and discrimination after organizers blocked several booths with wooden panels. Autonomous Guard, which makes anti-drone defense systems, covered some of its display signs in black coverings with David stars, prompting comparisons to gravestones. Counterop, which produces cameras for drones and observation equipment, wrote on the wooden boards placed in front of its stand: "Counterop's long-range cameras defeated Iranian ballistic missiles, but lost to Macron's short-range vision. History repeats itself!"

The restrictions came after the French government barred official Israeli participation and prevented a national pavilion from being set up. France also limited Israeli companies in advance to air-defense systems only, excluding offensive weapons, and all of them had to make extensive adjustments to comply. Even so, the exhibition management blocked the entrances to the booths of smaller Israeli firms such as Smart Shooter and Counterop on Thursday morning, while leaving larger companies, including Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit and Rafael, untouched. The only visible change this year was that the boards were painted pink-beige rather than black.

A source from one of the defense firms said the French were still making remarks about the displays every few hours, but business continued in meeting rooms. "In the meeting rooms we continue to show customers the full range of missiles and bombs we have, which did the job in Iran and Lebanon," the source said.

The Defense Ministry called the French move "a cynical, unequal and unsurprising step" aimed at excluding Israeli technology from an international exhibition. It said the attempts to hide Israel's "technological superiority" would not stop the ministry from continuing to drive Israeli defense exports to new highs.