Amid escalating conflict, France bans Israeli companies from a trade expo, according to sources

Two people familiar with the situation said on Wednesday that France has told Israeli companies they can’t take part in an upcoming military and naval trade show. This is the latest event to show that ties between the two allies are getting worse.

Paris had already told Israeli companies earlier this year they couldn’t take part in a military trade show. At the time, the defense ministry said that the companies could not take part because President Emmanuel Macron was “calling for Israel to cease operations in Gaza.”

Requests for comments were sent to the defense ministry, the foreign ministry, the Israeli embassy, and Euronaval, which is putting on the annual naval fair from November 4–7. They did not reply.

When France made its choice, Israeli forces were already attacking Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon with a lot of airstrikes and a small amount of ground operations.

A lot of civilians have been killed by Israeli actions, which is why Western allies, like France, want the fighting to stop right away.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned down a unilateral truce that would stop Hezbollah from getting stronger and regrouping.

In the past few weeks, tensions between Netanyahu and Macron have grown since Paris and Washington worked together to get Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day ceasefire. This would allow for talks on a long-term political solution.

France and the US thought Israel had agreed to the terms, so they were shocked when Israel attacked the next day and killed Hassan Nasrallah, who was the leader of Hezbollah at the time.

In the short run, officials say there is no chance of a ceasefire. Already, Paris is working to make plans for how to reach a peaceful agreement once the shooting stops.

But Macron has made Netanyahu and his government angry more than once in the past few weeks, most notably when UN troops were caught in the middle of Israeli fire in southern Lebanon.

He wants an end to the flow of offensive arms to Israel, which are used in Gaza. A French source said that he told Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that he shouldn’t forget that his country was made by a decision made by the UN.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot tried to play down the comments by saying they were just general things meant to remember Israel how important it is to follow the U.N. charter.

When asked about this, Netanyahu’s office said that the State of Israel was created through “the War of Independence with the Blood of Our Heroic Fighters,” many of whom were Holocaust survivors, some from the Vichy regime in France (a reference to the French government that worked with Nazi Germany).

Two officials said that the recent talks would not make it easier for France to try to mediate in Lebanon.

It is holding a meeting next week in Paris. Netanyahu asked Paris what it was trying to do and said that it was inviting South Africa and Algeria, which he said were trying to “deny Israel its fundamental right of self-defense and, in effect, reject its very right to exist.”