Overview

• French officials ordered the closure of four main Israeli company stands after exhibitors failed to remove offensive or kinetic weapons as directed by a French security agency.
• Israel’s defence ministry condemned the decision as driven by policy and commercial motives and refused to comply with removal demands.
• Show organisers erected a black partition overnight to isolate Israeli pavilions, and three smaller stands without hardware and an Israeli Defence Ministry display remained open.
• President Emmanuel Macron has taken an increasingly critical stance on Israel’s military strikes in Gaza and urged restraint following recent missile exchanges with Iran.
• The closures underscore France’s balancing act between diplomatic protest over Israeli operations and shielding its domestic defence sector from foreign competition.