Four Booths With Weaponry Displays Hidden From View

The French government reportedly pressured organizers of the Paris Air Show to put up barriers to hide the booth exhibits of some of the Israeli companies that included displays of kinetic weapons, while the exhibits of the Israeli Defense Ministry and several other Israeli company exhibits remained open.

The partitions were erected when the exhibitors reportedly refused to remove the weapons from the displays.

The hidden stands were used by Elbit Systems, Rafael, IAI, and Uvision. It was reported that the order came from the French government after the companies did not comply with a French security agency to remove the weapons.

The Israeli Defense Ministry said it rejected the order to remove some of the weapons systems from the displays and exhibition organizers then put up black partitions from the public.

Not surprisingly, the Defense Ministry said, “This outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations. The French are hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition – weapons that compete with French industries.”

Boaz Levy, IAI’s President and Chief Executive, said the black partitions were reminiscent of “the dark days of when Jews were segmented from European society.”

Two U.S. Republican politicians attending the show also criticized the action. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the decision was “pretty absurd” and Senator Katie Britt called it “shortsighted.”

Meshar Sasson, a Senior Vice President at Elbit Systems, accused France of trying to stymie competition, pointing to a series of contracts that Elbit has won in Europe.

He said, “If you cannot beat them in technology, just hide them, right? That’s what it is because there’s no other explanation.”

France has historically been a longtime friend of Israel but has stiffened its opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government because if its military actions in Gaza and other strikes in the region.

One of the black partitions was shown in photos with yellow graffiti that said “Behind these walls are the best defense systems used by many countries. These systems are protecting the state of Israel these days. The French government, in the name of discrimination, is trying to hide them from you.”

It was later replaced by a white partition.

FMI:  www.gov.il/