Israel ends all defense deals with France

The move follows French restrictions on Israeli participation in defense exhibitions and its support for a U.N. resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel.

By JNS

Israel’s Defense Ministry has halted all defense procurement from France due to what it views as Paris’s hostile stance toward Jerusalem in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Hebrew media reported on Tuesday.

Israeli Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram decided to end all contracts with France and instead rely on Israeli-made equipment and purchases from friendly countries, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News.

The move follows French restrictions on Israeli participation in defense exhibitions and its support for a U.N. resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel.

In the middle of the June 12-day war with Iran, Israel accused the French government of blocking parts of the Israeli pavilion at the Paris Air Show, breaking understandings reached on Israel’s participation and the principles of equality.

Baram at the time called the move “absolutely, bluntly antisemitic” and accused France of “commercial exclusion to prevent successful Israeli industries from competing with French ones.”

In a statement then, the Defense Ministry said the French government’s action “comes at a time when Israel is fighting a necessary and just war to eliminate the nuclear and ballistic threat facing the Middle East, Europe and the entire world.”

In 2024, a Paris court struck down restrictions on Israeli companies requested by the French Defense Ministry regarding the Eurosatory 2024 defense show, ruling they violated the principles of equality.