Netanyahu says France to allow Israeli firms at Paris air show

Netanyahu says France to allow Israeli firms at Paris air show
by AFP Staff Writers
Jerusalem (AFP) Jan 26, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron will allow Israeli companies to attend this year's Paris air show, after a call Sunday between the two leaders.

"The French president assured the prime minister that Israeli companies would be able to participate in the Paris Air Show," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Macron's office said the French leader told Netanyahu that the presence of Israeli companies "could be examined favourably as a result of the ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon".

The pair fell out last year after Macron restricted Israeli businesses at a French arms fair and called for a halt to weapons exports to the country over the Gaza war.

The Paris show, which takes place during odd-numbered years at the French capital's Le Bourget airport, is one of the world's most important aerospace events for both civil and military companies. This year's event is in mid-June.

Last October, Macron's government prevented Israeli companies from exhibiting at the Euronaval arms show. That led the then-Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant to call his actions "a disgrace to the French nation and the values of the free world".

The week before, the French president had called for the stopping of weapons exports to Israel, saying it was the only way to end its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Netanyahu said at the time Israel was fighting "the forces of barbarism... all civilised countries should be standing firmly by Israel's side. Yet, President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them".

Macron's administration also tried to block Israeli companies from a land defence and security exhibition five months earlier, but the decision was overturned by the French courts.

New US defense chief speaks with Israel's Netanyahu
Washington (AFP) Jan 27, 2025 - US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday in the Pentagon chief's first call with a foreign official since being sworn in.

Hegseth and Netanyahu "discussed the importance of advancing mutual security interests and priorities, especially in the face of persistent threats," the Pentagon said in a statement.

"The secretary stressed that the United States is fully committed, under President (Donald) Trump's leadership, to ensure that Israel has the capabilities it needs to defend itself," according to the statement, which did not specify why Hegseth spoke with Netanyahu instead of his direct counterpart Israel Katz.

Hegseth was sworn in on Saturday after being narrowly confirmed by the US Senate the night before.

He was one of Trump's most controversial cabinet nominees, facing allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct and concerns over his lack of experience leading a large organization.