Europe’s largest defense expo has now concluded without Israeli representation. The hurried decision of the French Defense Ministry to ban Israeli companies from participating in the biennial Eurosatory defense exhibition in Paris following President Emmanuel Macron’s call for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza—since overturned by a French court on grounds of discrimination—was rightfully met with criticism on moral grounds from some high-profile figures.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo posted on X: “The French decision to ban Israel from a defense forum—while welcoming the Chinese Communist Party—is reprehensible. It’s morally bankrupt to target the one Jewish state as it fights a defensive war against terrorism.”
Secretary Pompeo is correct. A search for “China” on the list of Eurosatory exhibitors yields 61 results. Not only is it a moral failing to host companies like Norinco, one of China’s largest state-owned defense manufacturers, which just last month was one of six PRC companies named by the House Select Committee on China as potentially critical to helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions on its military and energy sector. (The Committee called for Secretary of the Treasury Yellen to investigate whether the companies have violated U.S. sanctions or otherwise warrant sanctions.)
It’s hard to tell which blunder is worse: declining to host members of the Israeli national security community or extending an invitation to the Chinese as they menace Taiwan and prop up authoritarianism in Russia and Iran. Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken conceded that China was“overwhelmingly the No. 1 supplier” of Russia’s military-industrial base. This is all in addition to the PRC’s persistent diplomatic, economic, and political support for Moscow.
The strategic implications of this decision go beyond France and Europe. This hasty decision has resulted in the absence of a key defense industry from Europe’s largest defense show—a defense industry and industrial base that European nations have often relied upon throughout the last two years as the continent rearms and accelerates defense spending following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as I surmised last summer.
Israeli arms exports have surged in recent years, tracking with the return of Europe to increased defense spending. While Eurosatory proceeded sans Israel last week, the Israeli Ministry of Defense released data on Israeli arms sales for 2023. For the third straight year, and despite Israel’s engagement in a major war following Hamas’s terror attacks of October 7, Israeli arms exports reached a record high. Israeli arms exports are now nearly double that of five years ago—just over $13 billion in 2023 compared to around $7.5 billion in 2018.
Indo-Pacific nations accounted for 48 percent of Israel’s 2023 defense exports, largely driven by India, the greatest importer of Israeli arms. But Europe’s portion was not insignificant, accounting for 35 percent of all Israeli defense exports in 2023.
Air defense systems, an area in which Israel excels, made up 36 percent of the country’s defense exports last year. It’s also a striking vulnerability for Europe—especially for Ukraine. As Boaz Levy, the CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) recently bluntly put it to POLITICO: like it or not, Europeans need Israeli air defenses and technology.
Numerous European nations have been the beneficiaries of Israel’s surging arms exports. Last November, amidst full-scale Israeli operations in the Gaza strip, Israel and Germany finalized a nearly $3.6 billion deal for the Arrow 3 air defense system, jointly produced by IAI and Boeing. It’s the largest defense deal in Israel’s history. In the same month, the Arrow 3 was put to the test and successfully intercepted it’s first ever missile—fired by Houthi terrorists towards the city of Eilat in southern Israel.
Then in April, Arrow 3 was instrumental in intercepting the ballistic missiles that were part of the 300 ballistic, cruise missiles, and drones Iran launched at Israel. The cooperative effort of Israel, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Jordan, and more, yielded an interception rate of 99 percent. A number of countries globally have approached IAI with interest in Arrow 3 following the display.
Meanwhile, David’s Sling, co-developed by Raytheon and Israel’s Rafael, is on track to be received by Finland in the system’s first international sale. David’s Sling also had its first successful interception in 2023, thwarting a rocket that was part of a barrage sent by Hamas toward Tel Aviv last May.
And the list goes on. Last spring, Estonia signed a major deal with IAI for loitering munitions. Just last month, Israel’s Elbit Systems won a contract to produce $53 million worth of mortar systems for an unnamed European customer.
Nevertheless, America’s European allies were deprived of surveying these proven systems at Europe’s largest defense exhibition.
A representative from IAI, one of the 74 Israeli companies originally on the Eurosatory’s exhibitor list before the French government’s ban, recently told Breaking Defense: “It was a surprise, it was unpleasant, I don’t like it, but as a company that has such a big scale of choice with other Israeli industries… We have 30 exhibitions around the world every year, so one exhibition that we won’t participate in won’t do anything to effect [sic] the business.”
For the sake of freedom and Western values currently under attack in Israel and Europe, one hopes the official is correct. Maybe France’s spur-of-the-moment decision comes down solely to incompetence. Or perhaps the moral outrage at Jerusalem is genuine. Which again brings into question why the French government did not see dozens of PRC representatives, or say, the handful of Pakistani representatives, as offensive to their sensibilities and morality.
It all reeks of the triple standard against Israel. There’s one set of rules for the West, another for the rest, and a third for the Jewish state. It is a shame that in this case, it could result in a missed opportunity to bolster European defense and security at a time when this should be the number one priority for all NATO allies.