The organizers of a highly coveted expo for weapons sellers, the Paris Air Show, blocked Israeli participants on Monday even as their army’s successes in Iran are raising interest in their military wares. Is competition in the global arms market the real reason France is barring a major competitor?   

Amid the much-scrutinized Israel Defense Force performance in Iran, “there are many new queries about purchasing arms from us,” a security source tells the Sun. “Of course, sales can only materialize with actual contracts, and those can take between three to five years.”

As the prestigious show opened at Paris on Monday, Israeli booths were surrounded by black barriers, blocking access to their displays — unlike those from any other country. The show’s position “is very simple,” the French prime minister, Francois Bayrou, told reporters. “No offensive weapons of war are allowed in the air show. Defensive weapons of war are completely fine.” 

That distinction is “extremely difficult” to make, a deputy director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy’s center for military and political power, Ryan Brobst, tells the Sun. “If Israel was using one of those weapons to destroy a ballistic missile launcher that was about to fire at an Israeli city, I would argue that it’s clearly a defensive weapon.”

Israelis were outraged that France blocked their arms showcase even as the IDF is fighting to defang the Iranian nuclear program and the ballistic missiles that Jeruselm says can eventually threaten Europe.  

“Behind these walls are many of the best defensive systems used by many countries,” an unidentified employee of an Israeli arms manufacturer, Rafael, wrote on the barrier that blocked the company’s display. “These systems are protecting the state of Israel these days. The French government, in the name of discrimination, is trying to hide them from you!” 

Iran has launched 370 ballistic missiles at Israel since Friday, according to the IDF. More than 90 percent of those were intercepted, as only 30 missile impacts were recorded, leading to 24 deaths. Armed Iranian drones were rendered harmless by Israeli planes.   

Beyond the multi-layered Arrow, Sling of David, and Iron Dome systems, Israel planned to display at Paris its new Iron Beam system. Rafael recently carried out the world’s first successful test of these laser-based batteries that can lower prohibitive air defense costs to near zero. 

In October the IDF air force destroyed much of Iran’s s-300 air defense systems. Its jets now fly freely over Tehran’s skies and beyond. By Monday they had destroyed a third of Iran’s missile arsenal and missile launchers, according to officials. Among its new weapons are Israeli-manufactured air-launched ballistic missiles mounted on American-made fighter jets.  

“There is actually not a huge amount of air-launched ballistic missiles on the market,” Mr. Brobst says. “So this could certainly increase sales of Israeli air launched ballistic missiles.” The successful use of any weapon system in conflict can lead to a boost in its marketing, he adds.

The IDF’s performance since October 7, 2023, has indeed impressed foreign arms buyers. In 2024 Israel sold $14.7 billion worth, more than doubling weapon exports from five years ago, according to its defense ministry. For comparison, the world’s second-largest arms exporter, France, exported $18.6 billion worth in 2024, marking its second best year ever. 

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europeans have significantly boosted their defense budgets. France is projected to add more than 7 percent to its military expenditures in 2025, spending nearly $55 billion. To offset expenses, France is boosting its foreign arms sales.

Israel’s war costs, meanwhile, are even more prohibitive. According to government estimates, it is spending $1 billion each day the Iran war is fought. Like France, it is hoping to make up for some of those expenses with arms sales.

French weapons “have a nasty habit of finding their way to, for example, Sudanese paramilitaries,” even as secrecy laws never expose such deals, an Israeli journalist, Haviv Rettig Gur, writes. “So forgive me for suggesting that France isn’t closing up Israeli defense contractors’ pavilions in Paris because of its morals, because of Gaza, or Iran, but because Israeli systems have a nasty habit of outselling French ones in any fair competition.”

On Sunday night, “after our booth was set up and ready for the show, we were asked to remove some of our systems from the booth,” the Israel Aerospace Industries president, Boaz Levy, said. “We tried to negotiate with them, but it seems these orders came from the highest levels in Paris.”

The decision to “unilaterally and without any serious justification close five Israeli exhibitor stands at the Paris Air Show is unacceptable discrimination, particularly in the current geopolitical context,” the French opposition leader, Marine Le Pen, writes on X. It “demonstrates a desire to harm a state ally of France and once again damages our country’s international image.”