Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, Eurosatory is France's biggest defense exposition, and it is also the largest international expo for land and air-land defense and security. If it attracts the attendance it did in 2022, over 60,000 professional visitors and over 250 official delegations from 96 countries will be represented. More than 70 Israeli companies were scheduled to participate in this year's expo, including large Israeli defense firms like Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which worked together to make Iron Dome, and which have extensive partnerships with American defense firms. Another would-be participant, Elbit Systems, has an American subsidiary that has provided our military with aviator integrated helmets and night vision equipment. Events like Eurosatory are especially beneficial to smaller Israeli firms that benefit from the massive exposure provided. However, just last week, the event organizers announced that at the request of French authorities, Israeli firms were no longer welcome. The French Armed Forces Ministry said that conditions are no longer suited to welcome Israeli companies to the French show in a context where their president is calling for Israeli operations in Rafah to stop. The exposition, it is worth pointing out, welcomes firms from such bastions of humanitarianism like China, Pakistan, Turkiye, and Saudi Arabia. In China's case, it is richly ironic, given Beijing's ongoing genocide of the Uyghur Muslim population.…”