Politics cloud annual Israel-France enterprise gathering

French enterprise and industrial gamers have usually not been the leaders of the pack in the case of establishing a presence in Israel or signing new contracts for items and providers there. They’ve all the time been there, sure, however far behind Britain and Germany, and others. Why ? For an excellent variety of causes, and never solely linked to politics, the president of the Chambre de Commerce France-Israel (the CCFI), Henri Cukierman, has been explaining to me for an excellent variety of years, usually at annual CCFI dinners.

And so this 12 months, it was vital for the CCFI to host as visitor speaker the pinnacle of state-run French vitality big EDF, a number one overseas enterprise associate with Israel and the primary renewable (photo voltaic) vitality producer there.

Some context maybe: In recent times, new Israel-France relations in excessive tech fields, led by cybersecurity, have been on the upswing, bringing collectively Israeli startups and French company giants, proof in sure circumstances of the success of annual CCFI cybersecurity boards right here in Paris.

That was earlier than the barbaric, Hamas-led assaults on October 7, 2023 and the disastrous conflict that has adopted in Gaza, pitting radical Islamic terrorists towards a right-wing Netanyahu-led coalition authorities full with extremist messianic ministers, decided to wipe out by pressure the Islamic dictatorship ruling the territory since 2007.

However an important level right here is to not analyze this conflict, however to notice that for the reason that ceasefire compelled on each side by the Trump administration in Washington, Israel has registered various highly-publicized political and enterprise success tales, however not with France.

Opening the latest thirty third annual CCFI dinner, Henri Cukierman instructed nearly 300 friends gathered within the plush Pré Catelan restaurant nestled amongst tall bushes within the Bois de Boulogne park, “Enterprise with France has slowed down and is much less seen, but it surely continues. And this present state of affairs could also be an issue for France, however not for Israel, given the newest successes.”

These success tales embody the acquisition by Google of the Wiz cybersecurity agency for a mere $32 billion, development by US chip big Nvidia of a large R&D campus close to Yokne’am within the north, creating greater than 5,000 new jobs (“Globes”, July 5, 2025), Germany signing with Israel Aerospace Industries to buy extra Arrow 3 interceptors, and high-level talks with India to step up business exchanges considerably.

Nonetheless, on the similar time, as a lot of the demise and destruction in Gaza has been filmed and usually broadcasted on tv and social media worldwide, although a lot much less so on French and Israeli TV (however that’s one other story), the picture of the federal government and folks of Israel has been crushed, generally by reliable criticism, usually by hate-filled emotion. This has longtime key Francophone determine in Israel, Dan Catarivas, anxious. Now president of the Israel Federation of Bi-Nationwide Chambers of Commerce, he instructed the gathering, “This conflict has value Israel some $90 billion. It has been a waste. And calls to boycott Israel have gone mainstream.” There was little response within the room.

France’s state-run electrical energy and vitality big, EDF, has been working in Israel for 15 years, and thru its subsidiary, EDF Energy Options-Israel, is the main producer of photo voltaic vitality there.

The French firm powering Israel

EDF CEO Bernard Fontana instructed the gathering that EDF was working to carry the share of Israel’s whole energy consumption that’s produced from renewable photo voltaic vitality as much as 30% by the 12 months 2030. “Israel for us is a laboratory of innovation, a human and industrial journey,” he stated.

Fontana then quoted Israel’s founding father, David Ben Gurion, saying, “he (or she) who doesn’t imagine in miracles is just not a realist.”

The EDF CEO instructed “Globes” that he had been to Israel a number of instances, however to not the 100-hectare Timna energy plant subsequent to the traditionally important copper mine within the southern Arava desert, exploited first by the Egyptians after which maybe by a sure King Solomon.

Again in 2007, I wrote an article for the JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Company) a couple of Mexican industrial group, AHMSA, that was about to launch copper mining operations on the website however was dealing with opposition from the regional council over main environmental dangers. To extract the copper from the rock, engineers use sulfuric acid, a significant supply of air pollution. In 2009, after spending greater than $60 million on the positioning, AHMSA shut down operations when the Israeli authorities canceled its multi-million greenback participation.

Ayalon Vaniche, the pinnacle of the native subsidiary EDF Energy Options-Israel occurred to be eating on the Pré Catelan that night, and the main points he shared with me would have drastically dinner friends.

The EDF subsidiary runs 46 energy crops in Israel, all photo voltaic, together with three floating crops which aren’t offshore, as one may suppose, however fairly on inland our bodies of water akin to fish ponds. It gained the tender issued in 2016 by the Israel Land Administration for the 100-hectare Timna website, in operation since 2021 with greater than 150,000 photo voltaic panels.

“There is no such thing as a ideological opposition in Israel to constructing renewable vitality crops, as there may be in France, the place photo voltaic and wind turbine crops are sometimes on agricultural land,” Vaniche defined. “In Israel, photo voltaic crops are most frequently constructed on agricultural land, belonging to kibbutzim or moshavim. Timna is an exception, because the land plot tendered by the State was unsuitable for agriculture.”

He continued that one a part of the Timna website was made up of “spectacular desert geological formations,” whereas one other half was “land that was extremely polluted by runoff from the Mexican mining operations.”

Vaniche famous that solar-produced electrical energy in Israel is half the value of such electrical energy produced in France.

Bilateral awards

Then got here the awards ceremony, during which 5 French or Israeli corporations obtain trophies for his or her bilateral work, be it industrial, items and providers, or tutorial accords. That is all the time a vigorous affair, effectively appreciated by the largely French friends, who are sometimes concerned in work with Israel in company posts, in small enterprise mode and as people. The winners have been:

1. The Weizmann Institute – France: accountable for strengthening cooperation between the Institute in Israel and prestigious French scientific facilities such because the L’ École polytechnique, the CNRS analysis middle, the Curie most cancers Institute and extra, represented by Sidney Toledano, President, and David Weizmann, normal director.
2. Vinci Applied sciences: working for 15 years in Israel, furnishing skinny layer techniques for semiconductors and photovoltaic cells to Israeli universities, represented by Renaud Presberg, president.
3. El Al: providing the most effective airline safety in instances of conflict, represented by Oranit Beit Halamy. This alternative raised a number of eyebrows, as tales of summertime excessive costs circulated from desk to desk.
4.Ben Gurion College of the Negev: sustaining greater than 40 partnerships with French universities and analysis facilities…a world chief in cybersecurity and arid-region agriculture. Represented by David Hozé, president, and Eric Danon, honorary president.
5. Arthur Essebag: a significant determine selling and strengthening French-Israeli bilateral relations and partnerships. He drew laughter and applause when he known as on the El Al director to decrease spherical journey fares between France and Israel, which exploded this previous summer time, from round 700 euros to greater than 1500 euros.

Then I bumped into CCFI head Henri Cukierman making the rounds of tables, greeting enterprise leaders and pals. “, Dan Catarivas does have an excellent level about Israel’s picture,” he instructed me. “Despite the fact that this has not been the technique of the Israeli military, it’s a present for anti-Israeli propaganda to have a minister say that ravenous two million folks in Gaza could possibly be justified and ethical.”

He stated that the French drawback with Israel was not on the enterprise degree, however within the political area. For instance, on the worldwide Paris air present, black partitions have been positioned across the Israeli stands of Elbit, IAI and Rafael. Because of this, folks had issue coming into the stands. “In contrast to the nice relations it has with different nations, France’s politics with Israel are operating at two kilometers an hour,” Cukierman commented. “And though France’s political relations with Israel are actually at a low level, French corporations nonetheless have an excellent picture of the revolutionary traits of their Israeli counterparts.”

Designing a synagogue in Or Akiva

And the way did the friends really feel? 60-something architect Pascal Hofstein has attended this dinner usually. He has taught at Colombia College in New York, and so his English is fluent, although even after many journeys to Israel, his Hebrew is just not.

“I meet good folks at this dinner, and I’d say that this 12 months, half the folks I spoke with assist this Bibi authorities, and half don’t,” he instructed “Globes.” “Myself, I used to be an enormous supporter of Yitzhak Rabin. Again then you possibly can be a Zionist and leftist. At present, I don’t suppose you may. And anti-Zionist leftists in France and within the States have usually develop into antisemitic.

“With this conflict and declarations by sure Israeli ministers, and the footage from Gaza, the nation does have a significant picture drawback. Not residing in Israel, we don’t all the time know the politics there. However many Jews right here suppose they know all the things, and infrequently they assist this Netanyahu authorities. And what’s extra, they’re huge Trump supporters as a result of he has been good for Israel, bringing house the hostages particularly, however they don’t know what he’s doing to the USA.”

Architect Hofstein had by no means labored in Israel, however lately he signed a contract to construct a neighborhood middle and synagogue for some 300 French-speaking residents of Or-Akiva. “We’re nonetheless within the design part, and development ought to start in a 12 months,” he instructed Globes. “That is my first challenge in Israel, and I’m thrilled about it.”

Typically talking, it’s tough to take away politics from enterprise, and vice versa, particularly in Israel. However this synagogue-community middle development challenge is proof that it’s potential.

Revealed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on November 27, 2025.

© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.