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Le Bourget, France – Geopolitical tensions allowed the opening of the Air Paris Salon on Monday while the French authorities sealed stands in the Israeli arms industry in the middle of the Conflicts in Iran and GazaA decision that Israel condemned as “scandalous”.
The decision added a drama to the major event in the aerospace industry, which was already in the shade of the fatal accident last week Boeing 787 Air India Dreamliner.
Black walls have been installed around the stands of five Israeli defense companies at the Bourget Commercial Fair, an aerodrome on the outskirts of Paris.
The stands displayed “offensive weapons” which could be Used in Gaza – in violation of agreements with the Israeli authorities, a source of the French government told AFP.
Nathan Laine / Bloomberg / Getty 
Companies – Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael, Uvision, Elbit and Aeronautics – make drones and guided bombs and missiles.
An Israeli exhibitor wrote a message in yellow chalk on one of the walls, saying that hidden defense systems “protect the state of Israel these days. The French government, in the name of discrimination, tries to hide them!”
The French official says that Israeli “offensive weapons” were prohibited in the middle of the war in Gaza
French Prime Minister François Bayrou defended the decision at a press conference on Monday at the air show.
“The position of the French government was very simple: no offensive weapon at the arms exposure,” he said. “Defensive weapons were perfectly acceptable.”
Bayrou cited the current conflict in Gaza as justification behind the ban.
“Given France’s diplomatic choices, in particular concern, or in any case, very great concerns about Gaza, we could not show that there was a certain distance, which meant that we do not think that it accepts that offensive weapons are in a program like this,” said Bayrou. “And as these offensive weapons have not been removed [by the Israeli companies]We have temporarily, I hope, closed the stands. “”
During the last Air Paris show in 2023, Israeli companies – of which at least one which was subjected to the closure of its stand on Monday – seems to have displayed Offensive weapons, including bombs and rockets guided by laser and attack drones.
Aviation press point Global Flight reported Since the show on Monday that, despite Bayrou’s description of a ban on offensive weapons exhibitions, “manufacturers from other countries have freely displayed a range of combat and ammunition”, which he included a display of the French company Dassault Aviation with an “French Air Force hunter surrounded by a range of strike ammunition”.
Matthieu Rondel / Bloomberg via Getty 
Israel calls France’s decision to close the “scandalous and unprecedented” stands
Israeli president Isaac Herzog said he was shocked by the “scandalous” closure of the pavilions and said the situation should be “immediately corrected”.
“Israeli companies have signed contracts with the organizers … It’s like creating an Israeli ghetto,” he said on the French television channel LCI.
The Israeli Defense Ministry declared in a statement that “the scandalous and unprecedented decision to start the political and commercial considerations again”.
“The French hide behind allegedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition-weapons that compete with the French industries,” he said. “This is particularly striking given the impressive and precise performance of Israeli technologies in Iran.”
Israel launched surprise strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites on Friday, killing the best commanders and scientists, encouraging Tehran to retaliate with a missile dam.
Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders was in Paris Show on Monday and, speaking with journalists, she described the decision of French officials as “quite absurd”. His father is Mike Huckabee, the current United States ambassador to Israel and a donor and a player in the Israeli operations in progress in Gaza.
The presence of Israeli companies in Le Bourget, although smaller than in the past, was already a source of tension before the start of the Air Paris show, due to the conflict in Gaza.
Last week, a French court rejected the candidacy of NGOs to ban Israeli Bourget companies for concerns about “international crimes”.
The local legislators of the Seine-Saint-Denis department welcoming the event were absent during the visit to Bayrou at the opening of the air show to protest against the Israeli presence.
“The world has never been so disturbed and destabilized,” said Bayrou earlier during a round table, urging nations to meet the challenges “together, not against each other”.
Boeing focuses on support, not sales at Paris Air Show after Air India Crash
The rank on Israel has thrown a shadow on a lounge which is generally dominated by the exhibitions of the last flying wonders of the aerospace industry, and large orders for the manufacturers of Airbus and Boeing aircraft.
Airbus announced a prescription of 30 A320neo planes to a single clanne and 10 cargo cargoes A350F by the Saudi aircraft rental company Avillease. The European manufacturer also said that Riyadh Air bought 25 A350-1000 jets in long and wide.
Boeing Director of Boeing, Kelly Ortberg, canceled plans last week to attend the biennial event to focus on the investigation into the India air accident.
“We focus on the support of our customers, rather than announcing orders during this air broadcast,” said a spokesperson for Boeing on Monday.
The Dreamliner in London crashed shortly after takeoff in the city of western Ahmedabad, killing 241 passengers and crew and 38 others on the ground. A passenger has survived.
