Europe

LE BOURGET, France/JERUSALEM, June 16 (Reuters) - France has shut down the four main Israeli company stands at the Paris Airshow for apparently displaying offensive weapons, in a move condemned by Israel that highlights the growing tensions between the traditional allies.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday that the instruction came from French authorities after Israeli firms failed to comply with a direction from a French security agency to remove offensive or kinetic weapons from the stands.

Three smaller Israeli stands, which didn't have hardware on display, and an Israeli Ministry of Defence stand, remain open.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/14275507

The black walls appeared overnight ahead of the show’s opening Monday, visually isolating Israeli booths from dozens of other international exhibitors. The Israeli Defense Ministry said the move followed a last-minute demand from organizers to remove offensive weapons systems from display — a request they rejected.

The [French] official said Israeli exhibitors were told weeks in advance that they couldn’t exhibit certain types of equipment, and that the walls were erected as a last resort when five of them didn’t comply. Four others did and are allowed to exhibit. The official did not elaborate on what kind of equipment was not allowed, or why.

The president and CEO of Israeli company IAI, Boaz Levy, said it has exhibited at the Paris Air Show for decades and had received authorizations to display its equipment.

‘’Last night, after our booth was set up and ready for the show, we were asked to remove some of our systems from the booth. We tried to negotiate with them, but it seems these orders came from the highest levels in Paris,’' he said in a statement. ‘’This morning, when we arrived at our booth, we were shocked to find out that we were blocked by black walls built overnight.’'

[In Hague] the march estimated the peaceful crowd at more than 150,000 people. Local media put the numbers closer to 100,000.

In neighboring Belgium, around 75,000 people, many of them also clad in red, hit the streets in the capital Brussels, police said. Several rallies have been held to draw attention to Israel’s actions in Gaza, but Sunday’s was the biggest rally so far.

According to another source:

• In Brussels, where protesters were also calling for action from the EU, turnout was estimated at 110,000 by organisers and 75,000 by police.

This year, Microsoft is busy charming European policymakers. It is doing so again by insisting that Europeans’ data will remain on the continent, regardless of whether the US government requires access to it.

Dutch prosecutors have allegedly dismissed multiple criminal complaints involving Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters after surveillance footage from Amsterdam’s metro system—potentially key evidence—was discovered to have been deleted due to equipment replacement and short retention policies, according to NOS.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed it has dropped two separate investigations into violent incidents involving Maccabi supporters that took place around a match against Ajax in November last year. The incidents occurred in the metro system, where confrontations broke out between groups of supporters and counter-protesters. Footage that could have supported the allegations was reportedly not preserved, the OM said Sunday.

Transport company GVB acknowledged that the video recordings were lost because recording devices were replaced on November 12—five days after the unrest in the city. "Unfortunately, this necessary replacement, combined with a limited retention period, resulted in the footage no longer being available," a GVB spokesperson said. The company added that although the standard retention period is one week, recordings are sometimes saved for less time.

The sudden movement of Netanyahu’s aircraft comes just hours after Israeli forces reportedly launched strikes against Iranian targets, a move likely to further inflame an already volatile regional standoff.

While no official statement has been made by either the Israeli or Greek governments confirming Netanyahu’s presence on the flight, the aircraft’s status as Israel’s designated presidential jet has led to widespread speculation.

Kennard, co-founder of Declassified UK, a British investigative outlet, further raised the question of whether Greece is now providing shelter to a “war crimes fugitive”—a reference to the International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings against Netanyahu.

French President Emmanuel Macron says Iran bore a heavy responsibility for destabilisation in the Middle East and that it had pushed ahead with an unjustified nuclear programme, but he also urged restraint after Israel struck Iran.

Macron, speaking at a news conference, said he regretted that Iran had not taken up the overtures by the United States to find a diplomatic solution to its nuclear programme and hoped that these talks could resume.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/23204472

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