French defense minister comes out against court decision to bar Israeli companies from Paris arms show.

A Paris law firm has filed a petition with the Conseil d’Etat (the highest administrative juridiction in France) to overturn a government’s decision to ban 74  Israeli companies from entering the Eurosatory defense and security show and allow them within 48 hours.

The Eurosatory show opened its doors on Monday without the presence of the 74 Israeli companies scheduled to attend. This was the decision taken by the French government at the end of May. The French Defense Ministry ordered the ban  saying that “the conditions are no longer right to host Israeli companies at the Paris show, given that the French president is calling for the cessation of IDF operations in Rafah.”

A decision confirmed and even reinforced by a court on Friday evening, when pro-Palestinian associations – including one close to the terrorist PFLP group- brought the case before the court, which prohibited the presence of the intermediaries in addition to the Israeli companies.

The absence of intermediaries apparently divided the French government as  French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu backed an appeal by the Eurosatory 2024 organizers Coges Events against the court’s decision.

“The executive is not supposed to react to court rulings,” the minister declared, ‘’but it’s impossible to ignore the fact that this ruling goes far beyond the initial request of the government, which never proposed such a ban. Therefore, the Eurosatory organizers’ appeal against this court decision is the right step.”

The show, which takes place in Villepinte, near Paris, will last until Friday.

In the meantime, the lawyer firm Veil Jourde lodged  a summary appeal with the Conseil d’Etat to definitively cancel this decision, so as to allow Israeli companies and visitors to enter the show like normal people within 48 hours.