IAI CEO Boaz Levy criticises Paris Air Show organisers over restrictions on Israeli exhibitors

“Following decades of participation in the Paris Airshow and discussions with the French authorities, we received all of the authorisations to participate in the Airshow and have done everything they requested from us,” Levy said. According to his statement, the request to remove systems came after the booth was fully set up, and efforts to negotiate were unsuccessful.

“It seems these orders came from the highest levels in Paris,” he added. Levy said that when IAI staff arrived at the booth the following morning, they found it surrounded by black walls built overnight, effectively blocking access.

In his statement, Levy expressed deep personal concern, saying, “As the son of a Holocaust survivor, I am very disturbed that not even 100 years after the Holocaust, our people are being discriminated against due to their religion.” He further stated, “This type of behaviour is not acceptable and discriminates against us as Israelis and Jewish people since all of the other participants in this Airshow do not have these limitations.”

Levy concluded by saying that IAI was “shocked by the behaviour of the Paris Airshow organisers and the French authorities who blocked our team from entering our booth.” The incident occurred despite IAI’s longstanding participation in the event and previous coordination with French officials.