French court bans reps of Israeli defense firms from attending Paris arms show
Eurosatory organizer says ruling goes beyond ban imposed by French government in protest of IDF op in Rafah, adds that it will appeal decision
A French district court has ruled that organizers of the Eurosatory 2024 defense and security trade show must ban anyone working for or representing Israeli firms from participating in the event.
The French Defense Ministry last month ordered Coges Event to ban the Israeli defense industry from setting up a stand at the show, saying that “the conditions are no longer right to host Israeli companies at the Paris show, given that the French president is calling for the cessation of IDF operations in Rafah.”
Seventy-four Israeli firms had been set to be represented at the June 17 to June 21 event at fairgrounds close to Paris’s main international airport, with Coges previously saying around 10 of them were to exhibit weapons.
In a letter dated Saturday, Coges President Charles Beaudoin wrote that the organization thinks the court’s ruling “goes beyond the government’s decision taken two weeks ago,” as the latter prevented Israeli firms from exhibiting at the fair, while the former bans their representatives from entering.
In his letter, Beaudoin added that Coges is “using the quickest possible legal procedures to appeal these decisions,” but the court’s decision will be enforced for the time being.
The French government will also issue a reaction to the ruling, The Times of Israel has learned.
The ban on employees of Israeli companies will also extend to non-Israelis employed by such firms, while Israelis working for non-Israeli firms will be allowed to enter.
Organizers said that there is no blanket ban on Israelis seeking to visit the fair.
The original announcement regarding the ban came days after an Israeli strike targeting two top Hamas terrorists in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah sparked a fire in a complex that was housing displaced Palestinians, killing dozens of civilians and triggering international outrage and protests in France.
An Israel Defense Forces probe into the strike found that a hidden store of weapons may have been the actual cause of the deadly blaze, and that the airstrike that targeted an adjacent area had used small munitions that would not ignite such a fire on their own.
Responding to the fatal blaze, in which Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza claimed 45 civilians were killed, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged” and demanded an “immediate ceasefire.” Based off these comments, the French defense ministry ordered the ban.
The annual event is one of the world’s largest defense fairs, with over 1,700 firms expected to present to over 60,000 attendees from 150 countries.
The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 37,000 Palestinians in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, an unverified figure that does not differentiate between civilians or combatants. The tolls, which cannot be verified, include some 15,000 terror operatives Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
307 soldiers and one police officer have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border. A civilian Defense Ministry contractor has also been killed in the Strip.
Agencies contributed to this report.
