JERUSALEM — France barred Israeli government officials from participating in Europe’s biggest defense show, prohibited the country from opening a national pavilion and restricted its arms makers from exhibiting offensive weapons, according to the show organizers and Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
Following a French government decision, Israeli exhibitors at the Eurosatory defense exhibition on June 15-19 in Paris will only be allowed to showcase equipment and products exclusively intended for air, missile and ballistic-missile defense, organizer Coges Events said in an emailed statement. The restrictions apply only to Israeli exhibitors, it said.
Israeli defense firms have faced restrictions at some major European defense exhibitions in recent years, particularly in France. The French government already excluded Israeli defense companies from the 2024 edition of Eurosatory, though that decision was overturned in court, while several Israeli booths were closed at the Paris Air Show in 2025.
“This policy is applied selectively and discriminatorily relative to other participating nations, in direct violation of the established norms governing international defense exhibitions,” the Israeli Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Monday.
The United Kingdom barred official Israeli government and military delegations from participating in the DSEI UK 2025 defense show, though companies could still exhibit independently, while Israeli firms were barred from the Dutch NEDS 2025 exhibition.
The restrictions come amid strained relations between Paris and Jerusalem over Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, with France on Monday calling an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council over escalating violence there. France in 2024 cited Israel’s military actions in Gaza to justify that year’s Eurosatory ban.
For Eurosatory, “the organizers wish to reiterate that the exhibition operates in strict compliance with the decisions and regulations established by the French authorities,” Coges Events said.
Israel’s MoD said France is hiding behind “a pretense of political justification” to exclude the country’s offensive systems from an international form, saying the decision “reeks of political and commercial calculation.”
Israeli defense companies continue to exhibit in France despite the restrictions, and some of the firms scheduled to exhibit at Eurosatory 2026 told Defense News they were unaware of any update and intended to exhibit as planned.
The latest measure represents the fourth attempt by France to restrict Israeli defense participation in two years, starting with Eurosatory 2024, though that ban was overturned by a French commercial court. That same year, Israeli companies were prohibited from displaying at the Euronaval exhibition, another measure that was overturned in court.
Israel’s Ministry of Defense suspended all defense procurement from France in April 2026, citing an “ongoing pattern of French policies” that compromises Israel’s national defense, including what Israel described as a French refusal to allow Israel-bound flights carrying U.S. weaponry to overfly French airspace during the conflict with Iran.
Eurosatory 2026 is an international defense exhibition held every two years at the Villepinte Exhibition Centre north of Paris. According to data from the latest exhibition, it attracts approximately 2,000 exhibitors from around 61 countries, alongside 355 official delegations from 92 nations.
Ruitenberg reported from Paris.
Tzally Greenberg is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has experience reporting on economic affairs as well as defense and cyber companies.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
