France shut down the four main Israeli company stands at the Paris Airshow for refusing to remove offensive weapons from display, in a move condemned by Israel and highlighting tensions between the traditional allies.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the instruction came from French authorities after Israeli firms failed to comply with a direction from a French security agency to remove offensive or kinetic weapons from the stands.
The stands were those being used by Elbit Systems, Rafael, IAI and Uvision. Three smaller Israeli stands, which did not have hardware on display, and an Israeli Ministry of Defence stand, remain open.
France, a long-time Israeli ally, has gradually hardened its position on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu over its actions in Gaza and military interventions abroad.
French President Emmanuel Macron made a distinction last week between Israel's right to protect itself, which France supports and could take part in, and strikes on Iran it did not recommend.
Israel's defence ministry said it had categorically rejected the order to remove some weapons systems from displays, and that exhibition organisers responded by erecting a black wall that separated the Israeli industry pavilions from others.
This action, it added, was carried out in the middle of the night after Israeli defence officials and companies had already finished setting up their displays.
"This outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations," the ministry said in a statement.
"The French are hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition - weapons that compete with French industries."
The French prime minister's office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Meshar Sasson, senior vice president at Elbit Systems, accused France of trying to stymie competition, pointing to a series of contracts that Elbit has won in Europe.
"If you cannot beat them in technology, just hide them right? That’s what it is because there's no other explanation," he said.
Rafael described the French move as "unprecedented, unjustified, and politically motivated".
The air show's organiser said in a statement that it was in talks to try to help "the various parties find a favourable outcome to the situation".
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Delegates expect this year's iteration of the world's biggest aviation trade show to see less business than usual, partly due to last week's fatalcrash of an Air India Boeing 787 and also because Boeing racked up huge deals during US President Donald Trump's recent tour of the Middle East.
But Airbus looks set to close a series of sales on its home turf, and interest in the defence side of the show is high as Europe ramps up military spending and conflict between Israel and Iran escalates.
Boeing's CEO Kelly Ortberg and Commercial Airplanes boss Stephanie Pope have cancelled their trip to Paris and the US company is scaling back its schedule at the event as it focuses on supporting the probe into last week's Air India crash that killed more than 240 people in the first fatal 787 accident.
But Airbus was busy at the show working on deals.
Saudi leasing company AviLease said today it had ordered 30 Airbus A320neo single-aisle jets and 10 A350 freighters in its first direct deal with the European planemaker.
That would be worth around $3.5 billion, according to estimated prices from analysts Cirium Ascend.
Saudi Arabia is spending big on becoming a new regional aviation hub, seeking to catch up with Dubai and Qatar by launching new airline Riyadh Air and announcing a massive six-runway airport.
Riyadh Air also signed a deal with Airbus for 25 A350-1000 long-haul jets.
Both Saudi firms are units of the Public Investment Fund, whose leaders attended the show as part of a large Saudi delegation as the kingdom attempts to grow its tourism and cargo infrastructure and challenge the airline kingpins of the Gulf, Emirates and Qatar Airways, for a share of growing traffic.
European politics and realignments in security relationships were also driving one of the most political shows in years.
Two people familiar with the matter said earlier that Polish airline LOT was poised to announce an order for 40 Airbus A220 plus options for a further 44 aircraft - seen as a part of a broader reset of relations with France.
On Saturday, Poland's PAP news agency quoted Polish infrastructure minister Dariusz Klimczak as saying that he would visit the show to announce the winner of a hard-fought contest between France-based Airbus and Brazil's Embraer.
The competition has attracted strong political attention as Warsaw moves to improve sometimes patchy relations with France amid questions over security pledges from the US, according to European aviation and defence sources.
In May, France and Poland signed a treaty to increase cooperation on defence, nuclear energy and other measures, in a sign of growing alliances between European nations.
In other business, Japanese airline ANA was set to finalise a previously announced Airbus order and industry sources have said Egyptair is close to an order for six more Airbus A350s.
Bloomberg News reported that Taiwanese carier Starlux was also close to ordering more of the A350 long-haul planes.
US arms firms were also pushing their wares as European rivals debate how to respond to higher spending though there were few major announcements.
"Paris is traditionally a civil show but a lot of investors, especially those new to aerospace and defence, are coming this year, with perhaps overly high expectations with regards to defence news flow," Agency Partners analyst Sash Tusa said.
