Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday that his ministry will take legal and diplomatic measures against the banning of Israeli companies from a major defense exhibition in Paris by Emmanuel Macron.
Under international law, Israel could pursue legal measures through the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism. The WTO prohibits discriminatory trade practices between member states. Israel could argue that France’s exclusion of its defense companies constitutes an unjustifiable trade barrier under WTO rules.
Additionally, Israel could leverage existing agreements or negotiations with France under European Union frameworks. For example, the EU-Israel Association Agreement (2000) governs trade relations between Israel and the European Union (EU) as a whole, of which France is a member. It provides for free trade in industrial products and preferential treatment for agricultural goods, with France adhering to it as part of its obligations to the EU.
Katz claimed that the boycott of Israeli companies and the imposition of “unacceptable conditions,” are anti-democratic measures which should not be normally acceptable amongst friendly countries. He urged Macron to cancel these measures, arguing that Israel wars against Hezbollah and Hamas justify supplying the nation with weapons.
Euronaval, organizer of the expo in November, said that the French government had informed them that Israeli companies would not be allowed to exhibit, but could nonetheless attend the trade show.
Macron announced a ban on weapons exports to Israel on October 5th because of the civilian death toll in Gaza and Lebanon. Prior to the ban, France supplied Israel with “some basic weapons components,” but no major arms.
This is the second time France has banned Israeli military companies from military exhibits. In June President Macron prohibited Israel’s participation in the Eurosatory military trade show in Paris, following France’s calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.