Richard Hecht, marketing director at Israeli defense firm CONTROP, said the company was inspected and cleared by French authorities dozens of times before its booth was suddenly blocked at the Eurosatory defense exhibition in Paris. Hecht told The Zioneer that the real reason appears to be competition with major French defense firms, and that the booth's panels were later inscribed with a message noting that 'our long-range cameras defeated Iranian ballistic missiles — but lost to French short-sightedness.'
Richard Hecht, marketing director at Israeli defense firm CONTROP, told The Zioneer on Tuesday that French authorities had inspected the company's booth at the Eurosatory defense expo 'dozens of times' and assured compliance, only to block the booth abruptly upon the exhibition's opening. Hecht said the real motive appears to be commercial competition rather than security: CONTROP competes with major French defense firms in the electro-optics sector. After the booth was sealed, Hecht wrote on the wooden panels covering it: 'Our long-range cameras defeated Iranian ballistic missiles — but lost to French short-sightedness.'
This account adds a direct company-level testimony to the diplomatic crisis that erupted overnight Sunday, when Israel's Defense Ministry confirmed that French exhibition management had boarded up multiple Israeli booths despite the firms meeting French demands to display only defensive systems. As The Zioneer reported on Monday, Israeli industry leaders have called for retaliatory measures against Paris. The incident — and a separate, unconnected French probe into IDF personnel — has deepened tensions between the two countries ahead of the ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear framework talks, in which France plays a central mediating role. CONTROP is a subsidiary of the defense group Elbit Systems.
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