French court strikes down ban on Israeli companies at Paris defense show

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Visitors walk past a Type-X robotic combat vehicle on display at the Eurosatory international land, air defense and security trade fair, in Villepinte, a northern suburb of Paris, June 17, 2024. (JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
Visitors walk past a Type-X robotic combat vehicle on display at the Eurosatory international land, air defense and security trade fair, in Villepinte, a northern suburb of Paris, June 17, 2024. (JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

The Paris Commercial Court strikes down the restrictions requested by the French Defense Ministry on Israeli companies at the Eurosatory 2024 defense show.

The order suspends “the execution of the measures adopted against the Israeli companies whose stands were prohibited at the EUROSATORY 2024 exhibition, until the closing date of the exhibition.”

A representative from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems tells The Times of Israel that the court decision changes nothing for the company. It will not set up a booth or send representatives.

A separate ruling from a French district court over the weekend — that organizers of the exhibition must ban anyone working for or representing Israeli firms from participating in the event — was not addressed by today’s decision.

The Paris Commercial Court ruling, signed by the court president, also orders the trade show organizer Coges Event to pay court costs.

The appeal was made by the Israel-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The French Defense Ministry last month ordered Coges Events to ban the Israeli defense industry from setting up stands 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.”

The subsequent ban on individuals working for Israeli companies angered the organizers and the French government. 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.

France’s defense minister also decried the ban on individuals yesterday.

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