France bans Israeli firms from Europe’s biggest defense show

PARIS — France has banned Israeli firms from participating in Eurosatory, Europe’s largest defense show, a little over two weeks before the event kicks off in Paris, with the government citing Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

“At the request of the French authorities, Israeli companies will not be present at Eurosatory,” the French Armed Forces Ministry said in an emailed statement on Friday. “Conditions are no longer suited to welcome Israeli companies to the French show, in a context where the President is calling for Israeli operations in Rafah to stop.”

French President Emmanuel Macron this week repeatedly called for Israel to halt operations in the Palestinian city of Rafah, saying on Monday he was outraged by Israeli strikes that killed many displaced people. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a topic of hot debate in France, and Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu has faced multiple questions from lawmakers in recent months about the country’s defense exports to Israel.

More than 70 Israeli companies had been scheduled to participate in the Eurosatory defense show, which officially kicks off in Paris on June 17. That included Israel’s three largest defense firms, Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems and Rafael Advance Defense Systems. Elbit has been planning to present its PULS multiple-rocket launcher and the Sigma next-generation howitzer, the firm told Defense News before news of the ban.

In line with the French government decision, there will be no stand from the Israeli defense and security industry at Eurosatory 2024, according to show organizer Coges Events, which declined further comment.

Israel was the world’s ninth-largest arms exporter in the 2019-2023 period, accounting for an average 2.4% of global arms exports , according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The country’s defense exports rose 9.7% to a record U.S. $12.5 billion in 2022, according to the most recent figures reported by the Ministry of Defense, with $3.67 billion for Europe. Unmanned aerial vehicles and related drone systems made up a quarter of Israel’s 2022 defense exports, with missiles, rockets and air-defense systems accounting for about a fifth.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——距离欧洲最大的防务展 Eurosatory 在巴黎开幕仅两周多一点的时间，法国政府以以色列在加沙的军事行动为由，禁止以色列公司参加该展会。

法国国防部周五在一份电子邮件声明中表示：“应法国当局的要求，以色列公司将不会参加欧洲防务展。鉴于总统呼吁以色列停止在拉法的军事行动，目前的情况已不再适合欢迎以色列公司参加法国展会。”

法国总统马克龙本周多次呼吁以色列停止在巴勒斯坦城市拉法的军事行动。他周一表示，以色列的空袭造成众多流离失所者丧生，令他感到愤慨。以巴冲突一直是法国的热门话题，近几个月来，法国武装部队部长塞巴斯蒂安·勒科尔努多次受到议员质询，内容涉及法国​​对以色列的国防出口问题。

超过70家以色列公司原计划参加6月17日在巴黎正式开幕的欧洲防务展（Eurosatory）。其中包括以色列三大国防企业：以色列航空航天工业公司（Israel Aerospace Industries）、埃尔比特系统公司（Elbit Systems）和拉斐尔先进防御系统公司（Rafael Advance Defense Systems）。埃尔比特系统公司在禁令消息公布前曾告诉《防务新闻》（Defense News），该公司计划展示其PULS多管火箭炮和Sigma下一代榴弹炮。

根据展会组织方 Coges Events 的说法，根据法国政府的决定，以色列国防和安全行业将不会在 2024 年欧洲防务展上设立展位。Coges Events 拒绝就此发表进一步评论。

根据斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所的数据，以色列在 2019 年至 2023 年期间是世界第九大武器出口国，平均占全球武器出口的 2.4%。

根据以色列国防部最新公布的数据，该国2022年国防出口额增长9.7%，达到创纪录的125亿美元，其中对欧洲的出口额为36.7亿美元。无人机及相关无人机系统占以色列2022年国防出口总额的四分之一，导弹、火箭和防空系统约占五分之一。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。