France Halts Visas for El Al Security — Leaving Israeli Flights Exposed

For the past six months, French authorities have stopped renewing work visas for El Al flight security personnel stationed in Paris, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The guards, employed through Israel’s embassy as “locally engaged staff,” are not officially El Al employees.

Some guards have been forced to return to Israel, while others remain in France without valid visas or have obtained temporary diplomatic status through the Israeli embassy. One security guard told reporters that “nobody has received a renewal in recent months,” describing the move as an attempt to end the presence of El Al’s security detail in France.

The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem confirmed the matter is being addressed by the Israeli embassy with France’s Foreign Ministry. French officials declined to comment, while El Al and Israel’s Shin Bet security agency referred queries back to the Foreign Ministry.

The decision comes amid mounting diplomatic tensions between Paris and Jerusalem over the war in Gaza. Last week, pro-Palestinian activists vandalized El Al’s Paris offices, splashing red paint on the building and labeling the airline a “genocide company.” In June, the Israeli booth at the Paris Air Show was unexpectedly blocked and covered.

French President Emmanuel Macron has sharply criticized Israeli plans to occupy Gaza, calling them “a disaster waiting to happen” and urging an immediate, permanent ceasefire. He recently announced that France will formally recognize a Palestinian state in September, a move that has prompted similar declarations from other countries including Australia and Canada.