Live Updates: Israel Strikes State TV After Telling People to Evacuate Part of Tehran

New York Times

5 hours ago

Last year, Israeli weapons producers were initially barred from attending a prestigious arms industry show in Paris over objections to the war in Gaza. This year, the Israelis were allowed in — but then walled off from other global competitors.
Israel's Ministry of Defense said Monday that the French government built black walls overnight around some weapons systems displayed by Israeli companies, blocking them from view at the Paris Air Show, one of the world's largest arms exhibitions.
It marked the second time in as many years that French authorities have sought to stop Israel from marketing its tools of military might, to reflect objections to its massive bombing campaigns in Gaza. And it comes at a fraught moment between the two countries as President Emmanuel Macron of France considers whether to recognize a Palestinian state, a move that Israel strenuously opposes.
The decision was not linked to Israel's new military offensive in Iran, which aims in part to destroy Tehran's nuclear program, François Bayrou, France's prime minister, told reporters at the air show. France also has long worried about Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, the Israeli defense ministry's director general, accused the French government of trying to stifle competition among weapons producers and said he would take the matter to court. He also called the French action 'absolutely, bluntly antisemitic.' French officials did not immediately respond to questions about General Baram's comments.
The walls were put up after Israeli officials objected to what they described as an earlier order by the French government to remove offensive weapons — a category that typically includes missile and rocket launchers, tanks, drones, cannons and a range of ammunition — from Israeli displays.
The walls were built 'in the middle of the night, after Israeli defense officials and companies had already finished setting up their displays,' the Israeli defense ministry said in a statement on Monday.
French officials insisted that Israeli authorities were aware of France's terms weeks in advance. Israeli authorities had agreed that Israeli booths would not be allowed to display offensive weapons, said one French government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters.
Four out of nine Israeli exhibitors at the air show complied with the requirements and were open Monday, including a booth run by the Israeli defense ministry itself, the French official noted. But five others failed to comply, the official said, which the French authorities discovered at the last minute. Those booths were the ones blocked from view.
French officials said that the Israeli booths that had been blocked would be able to reopen if they complied with the terms.
Mr. Bayrou said that the decision stemmed from France's desire to express 'distance and disapproval' with Israel's offensive in Gaza — not with the recent strikes on Iran, which he said were 'not at all of the same nature' because of the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program.
'Israel has the right to defend itself,' Mr. Bayrou said. But, he added, 'we have also said that the situation in Gaza is morally unacceptable.' France is one of several European countries that have voiced increasingly sharp condemnation of Israel over its conduct in Gaza.
France's foreign ministry noted on Monday that France exports components to Israel for defensive use, most notably material used for Israel's protective Iron Dome. But the ministry said that France does not export weapons that could be used in Gaza — a vow that some critics have questioned — and that it could not let Israeli companies promote such weapons on French soil.
The air show is expected to draw as many as 300,000 visitors and features defense displays from more than 2,400 companies in 48 countries. The Israeli companies are in the same halls as some of the American weapons exhibitions, and the walls drew condemnation from Republican Govs. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, who attended the show.
Ms. Sanders said the decision to block access to some of Israel's weapons displays 'seems very short sighted' and called it 'important for us to show our support of Israel and of these companies.'
Representatives for the show, held at Le Bourget Airport outside Paris, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After Israel was initially banned last year from attending the weapons show, a court in Paris ruled that the exclusion was discriminatory and ordered the ban to be rescinded.
In January, during a short-lived cease-fire in Gaza, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Mr. Macron had assured him that Israeli weapons companies would be allowed to participate in this year's arms show.
After Israel began new, intensified airstrikes against Iran last week, Mr. Macron said 'we don't want a Middle East with a nuclear-armed Iran' and that Israel had a right to defend itself.
But he also said that Gazans should not live under long-term Israeli occupation or mistreated. Israel's military recently lifted an 80-day blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza as its population approached the brink of starvation.
Liz Alderman contributed reporting.