Paris Air Show blocks off Israeli booths, in move Israel calls ‘outrageous and unprecedented’

IAI’s booth at the Paris Air Show, surrounded by the barricade. (Valerie Insinna/Breaking Defense)

PARIS AIR SHOW — Organizers for the Paris Air Show have erected barricades around the booths of Israeli defense firms, effectively shutting them off from the conference in a move the Israeli government called an “ugly and improper action.”

As visitors arrived for the first day of Europe’s largest such event, they found Israeli firms had their pavilions surrounded by large black walls.

According to a statement from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, “exhibition organizers acting on behalf of the French government ordered the removal of offensive weapons systems from Israeli defense industry pavilions.”

When Israeli firms rejected the request, “exhibition organizers responded by erecting a black wall that blocks the Israeli pavilions, a “unilateral action [which] was carried out in the middle of the night after Israeli defense officials and companies had already finished setting up their displays.”

The MoD called the move an “outrageous and unprecedented decision” that “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.”

This is hardly the first time Israeli firms have struggled with French exhibitions. In 2024 Israeli firms were barred from showcasing their wares at the Euronaval conference and, before that, had been disinvited from another French conference, Eurosatory, in moves linked to President Emmanuel Macron’s criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the West Bank. French courts intervened in both cases to reverse the government’s decisions.

Israel launched attacks late night Friday on Iran, and has continued a series of airstrikes on military targets in and around Tehran. In turn, Iran has launched waves of missiles and drones against Israel, including some that have managed to get through Israel’s vaunted air defense system.

Elbit Systems booth at the Paris Air Show was blockaded off at the start of the conference. (Valerie Insinna/Breaking Deefnse)

The Rafael booth at Paris Air Show 2025, surrounded by a black wall. (Valerie Insinna/Breaking Defense)

As of Sunday afternoon, spokespeople for the three largest Israeli firms — Rafael, IAI and Elbit Systems — told Breaking Defense they expected to proceed with business as usual, albeit in a reduced capacity with flights out of Israel hard to come by.

Clearly, that changed by Monday morning, with statements from industry mirroring that of the MoD.

“Last night, after our booth was set up and ready for the show, we were asked to remove some of our systems from the booth,” IAI president and CEO Boaz Levy said in a statement. “We tried to negotiate with them, but it seems these orders came from the highest levels in Paris, and this morning, when we arrived at our booth, we were shocked to find out that we were blocked by black walls built overnight, which reminds us of the dark days of when Jews were segmented from European society.

“This type of behavior is not acceptable and discriminates against us as Israelis and Jewish people since all of the other participants in this Airshow do not have these limitations. We are shocked by the behavior of the Paris Airshow organizers and the French authorities who blocked our team from entering our booth.”

A spokesperson for Rafael called the move “unprecedented, unjustified, and politically motivated. Rafael fully supports the Ministry of Defense’s decision to reject this directive.”

“Our lifesaving technologies are actively protecting civilian populations and supporting the security of NATO members and global allies—defending the very values the Western world stands for. No black wall will obscure the performance, relevance, or demand for our systems. We call on the organizers to immediately reverse this discriminatory decision and restore equal footing for all participating nations.”

Organizers of the conference could not immediately be reached for comment.