Banned from Paris Air Show, Israeli defense firms are both frustrated and powerless
Two people loading coffee machines onto a cart were all that remained at the stand reserved by Israeli defense firm UVision at the Paris Air Show as it prepared to open to the public for three days in Le Bourget, north of the French capital, on Thursday, June 19. By the time the convention was concluding its days reserved for industry players, the Israeli firm had already left. Along with fellow Israeli companies Elbit Systems, Aeronautics, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries, UVision was blocked from displaying its weapons systems: its booths had been off-limits, boarded up by black barricades, at the request of the French government, since the professionals-only part of the show launched on Monday.
"France has made it clear that offensive weapons would not be part of the show," Prime Minister François Bayrou said at the venue on June 16, adding the situation in Gaza was "morally unacceptable" and required an expression of "disapproval" and "distance." However, talks between the French government and the Israeli embassy in Paris in the lead-up to the gathering were supposed to define the conditions by which the Israeli companies could show their weapons. The show's organizers, aware of each booth's layout and the items on display, had approved their participation.
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