Fourteen Israeli companies were not allowed to present their systems on the opening day of the Eurosatory weapons exhibition in Paris, Defense & Tech by The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Thirty Israeli companies had agreed to abide by a discriminatory policy that allowed them to only showcase defensive solutions at the largest international exhibition for the land and air-land defense and security industry.
The display booths of Aeronautics, Marom Dolphin, SmartShooter, Controp, Orbit Communication Systems LTD., Paxis Advanced Ceramic Solutions, Gilat Defense, Source Tactical Gear, and OSG were blocked off.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, IAI-Israel Aerospace Industries, and Elbit Systems were allowed to display their platforms.
The companies taking part in the exhibition prepared to showcase only defensive systems as required by the French. Many of the firms that were blocked off had relatively empty booths, without any of their solutions on display.
Defense & Tech understands that Aeronautics, which manufactures various unmanned aerial systems, including loitering munitions, had a clean booth with only screen savers and no physical models of their solutions.
Representatives of Controp, which develops and manufactures long-range, electro-optical cameras, wrote on the board blocking their booth: “Controp’s long-range EO cameras defeated Iranian ballistic missiles but lost to French short-sightedness.”
The boarding up of the Israeli companies at Eurosatory came shortly before a ceasefire between the US and Iran, Controp president and CEO Yuval Miller wrote on LinkedIn.
“This morning at Eurosatory, French authorities decided to block our booth,” he wrote. “It seems that even EO sensors used strictly for air defense are forbidden by the French government. With the US-Iranian ceasefire minutes away, one could wonder whose side are they on?”
Good luck, then goodbye
Exhibition inspectors had examined the Israeli booths twice – once without any warning – to verify that the companies were indeed sticking to defensive systems, Defense & Tech was told. While most had decided to have empty booths, others made additional changes requested by the inspectors.
Nevertheless, at 9:45 p.m., the night before the opening of the exhibition, companies were informed by email that the organizers had begun boarding up the booths of the Israeli companies.
“They sent an email, like a thief in the night, that they were going to block the booth,” Orbit CEO Daniel Eshchar told Defense & Tech from the exhibition. “Seven people came to inspect the booth. They told us good luck with the exhibition. Two hours later, we were blocked. Without telling us why [or] what the reasons were. We asked them what had changed, but they didn’t reply. That’s the dual-face policy of the French.”
Another source told Defense & Tech they had received a photo that their booth, empty of any physical models, was being boarded up as well. Unlike Orbit, the inspectors did not even enter their booth, they said.
Overnight before the launch of the exhibits, French workers had arrived for a special operation to board up certain Israeli companies’ exhibits, according to a video distributed by the Defense Ministry.
“Overnight, the management of the Eurosatory exhibition boarded up Israeli defense industry pavilions – despite these companies having met the French government’s outrageous demands and displayed solely defensive systems,” the Defense Ministry said, adding that was “a cynical, discriminatory, and unsurprising move aimed at shutting Israeli technology out of an international exhibition – technology whose quality is proven daily across the Middle East.”
Gilad Landsberg, President of Gilat Defense, told D&T that “walls can’t and won’t stop Gilat Defense from connecting people and warfighters globally.”
A 'disgraceful decision'
Eshchar and others told Defense & Tech they were sure the reasoning behind the move was commercial self-interest, with geopolitical reasons only being an excuse. While their booths might be blocked, they would still hold the meetings scheduled for the duration of the exhibition, they said.
“The Israel Ministry of Defense will continue driving Israeli defense exports to new global heights, despite French efforts to conceal Israeli technological superiority from the world,” the Defense Ministry said.
Already feeling the heat, Israeli participation in the popular exhibition has seen a dramatic reduction. Two years ago, 74 Israeli companies participated in Eurosatory. Fewer than 40 registered to take part this year.
Despite discriminatory moves by the French, several companies told Defense & Tech they would still consider participating in coming exhibitions.
“We will not run away just because of the dual-face policy of the French,” Eshchar said.
Another defense-industry source said from the exhibition: “We will keep our meetings and our presence. We have to be here. All the limitations and their guidelines were met. This is a joke. It’s not right.
“It’s important to us to keep our presence. They can shut our booth, but we are still here. Our presence is more than what we are showcasing; it’s a statement. I hope we will be able to participate next time. But our company will still keep its schedules as usual.”
It’s becoming a habit
On June 1, the French government informed the ministry that it was barring Israel’s official participation in the Eurosatory exhibition. This meant that the government and the ministry were unable to participate in the exhibition or establish a national pavilion.
The Defense Ministry said on June 1: “The French decision encompasses: a ban on government representatives attending the exhibition; a ban on opening an Israeli national pavilion; and a restriction limiting Israeli defense industries to displaying air-defense products only, with offensive systems explicitly excluded.”
“This policy is applied selectively and discriminatorily relative to other participating nations – in direct violation of the established norms governing international defense exhibition,’ it said.
Despite the ban on the Israeli government and offensive weapons, many Israeli companies were expected to have their own smaller private desks to present defensive weapons.
“This is a disgraceful decision, one that reeks of political and commercial calculation, and regrettably, it comes as no surprise,” the Defense Ministry said. “It fits a deeply troubling pattern in French conduct in recent years – a pattern that has consistently placed France on the wrong side of history.”
France “is hiding behind a pretense of political justification to exclude Israeli offensive defense systems from an international forum – systems that have proven far superior to their French counterparts, and that have demonstrated exceptional precision and effectiveness against terrorist organizations and regimes threatening not only Israel, but regional and global stability at large,” it said.
Aim to delegitimize through unfair and competitive actions
The moves taken by France against Israel in the defense field – which other countries have not done – are motivated both by delegitimization and by a desire to undermine Jerusalem as a competitor, Israeli sources have said.
They said they expect nondemocratic countries, some of which are feared as potential international aggressors, to be able to present offensive weapons, despite Israel’s exclusion.
Recently, Israel canceled a visit by France’s senior Defense Ministry officials to Israel in protest of French policy on Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.
France has been critical of Israeli policy on Gaza, Lebanon, and in 2026 also regarding Iran. In 2024, France twice helped shoot down Iranian missiles and drones fired at Israel.
French sources declined to respond to a query from the Post about why certain companies were boarded up and others were not.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.