By John Irish
PARIS (Reuters) – France has banned Israeli firms from participating in an upcoming military naval trade show, two sources aware of the matter said on Wednesday, the latest incident to highlight an increasingly tense relationship between the two allies.
Paris had already banned Israeli firms from taking part in a military trade show earlier this year. The defence ministry at the time said the conditions were no longer right for the companies to take part when President Emmanuel Macron is “calling for Israel to cease operations in Gaza”.
The defence ministry, foreign ministry, Israeli embassy and Euronaval, which is organising the annual naval fair between Nov. 4-7, did not respond to requests for comment.
France’s decision comes as Israeli forces have launched numerous air strikes and a limited ground incursion targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli operations have led to substantial civilian casualties, leading Western allies, including France, to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused a unilateral ceasefire that fails to stop Hezbollah rearming and regrouping.
Tensions between Netanyahu and Macron have increased in recent weeks after Paris had worked with Washington to secure a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah that would then open the door to negotiations on a long-term diplomatic solution.
Despite believing Israel had agreed the terms, France and the U.S. were caught by surprise when the next day Israel launched strikes that killed then-Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Officials say there is no prospect of a ceasefire in the immediate term. Paris has turned its attention to trying to set the parameters for a diplomatic solution once the fighting stops.
However, Macron has irked Netanyahu and his government several times in recent weeks, notably as United Nations’ forces have been caught in Israeli crossfire in southern Lebanon.
He has called for an end to the supply to Israel of offensive weapons used in Gaza. On Tuesday, according to a French official, he told a cabinet meeting that Netanyahu should not forget that his country was created by a U.N. decision.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot sought to downplay the comments, saying they had been general remarks reminding Israel of the importance of respecting the U.N. charter.
Netanyahu’s office said in response that the State of Israel was established through “the War of Independence with the blood of our heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors, including from the Vichy regime in France”, referring to the French government that had collaborated with Nazi Germany.
Two diplomats said the recent exchanges would not facilitate French efforts to mediate in Lebanon.
It is hosting a conference in Paris next week. Netanyahu questioned Paris’s intentions, accusing it of inviting South Africa and Algeria, which he said were working to deny “Israel its fundamental right of self-defence and, in effect, reject its very right to exist”.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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