Par Serge Duchenne avec AFP
Published on
France has banned the presentation of Israeli offensive weapons at the 2026 edition of the Eurosatory international defense and security exhibition, organizers announced to AFP on Monday.
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“Only Israeli exhibitors who will present anti-ballistic and anti-aircraft defense systems are authorized,” declared Charles Beaudouin, president of COGES Events, in response to a press release from the Israeli ministry of Defense protesting against these restrictions.
“It’s a choice of the French government, of the Defense Council,” added Beaudouin.
“There is no possible ambiguity: if an exhibitor is also a rocket manufacturer, he will not be able to show them. This avoids any offensive weapon,” he said.
“We have given a clear framework, namely: limited exposure to Israeli materials and equipment relating to air defense and anti-missile defense,” confirms, for its part, the Ministry of the Armed Forces to franceinfo. “Israeli exhibitors who comply with the given framework will be able to exhibit their companies’ materials and equipment at Eurosatory. HAS”
The Israeli ministry denounced this measure, declaring that it would be “unable to participate in the show or install a national pavilion there.”
“This is a shameful decision, which smacks of political and commercial calculation and, unfortunately, it is not surprising. It is part of a deeply worrying trend in French behavior in recent years,” we added.
As RTL recalls, during the 2024 edition of this event organized every two years, Israeli arms manufacturers had already been excluded. At the time, the Ministry of the Armed Forces justified its decision by estimating that “the conditions are no longer met to receive Israeli companies at the show”, in the context of the war in Gaza.
This exclusion of Israeli companies was finally suspended by the Paris commercial court. Which considered that the ban on these companies participating in the defense and security fair was “discriminatory”, and should therefore end.
Also, at the 2025 Paris Air Show, Rafael and other Israeli arms companies were blocked from exhibiting at the Air Show for refusing to remove attack weapons from their display.
Paris has repeatedly condemned, since the end of February, Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory, where they target Hezbollah, a militant group supported by Iran.
On Sunday, France requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council after the Israeli army seized Beaufort Castle, dating from the era of the Crusades, in Lebanon, and the deployment of its flag on this strategic site.
Eurosatory takes place from June 15 to 19 at the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition center, north of the French capital.
The show announces that it will bring together 2,032 exhibitors in 42 national pavilions and welcome 334 official delegations from 93 countries and 43,000 professional visitors from 155 countries.
