Temporary walls erected around the booth of Israeli defense firm Smartshooter at Eurosatory on June 15, 2026. (Breaking Defense)
PARIS — The Israeli Ministry of Defense lambasted what it called “discriminatory” measures taken to limit the presence of Israeli firms at the Eurosatory defense exhibition in France, while event organizers said the displays ran afoul of French government rules.
“Overnight, the management of the Eurosatory exhibition boarded up Israeli defense industry pavilions — despite these companies having met the French government’s outrageous demands and displayed solely defensive systems,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement Sunday. “This is a cynical, discriminatory, and unsurprising move aimed at shutting Israeli technology out of an international exhibition — technology whose quality is proven daily across the Middle East.”
Today the booths for large Israeli defense contractors like Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries were open but noticeably lacked the kind of munitions and models of weapons platforms and systems typical for an exhibition booth. Elbit displayed a large promotional video of its directed energy systems in action.
Other Israeli firms’ booths were fully boarded up by temporary walls, including companies that specialize in tactical gear, electro-optical control capabilities systems and fire control systems. The large walls echoed actions taken against Israeli firms in 2025 at the Paris Air Show.
