[null and void]

The Kfir was based on plans designed by the IAF for the French company Dassault and then stolen from the French

Huh?

Those eeeeeevil Jooooooooooooos stole their own technology?

[elcid1970]

There was widespread support for Israel in France after the IDF assisted the Anglo-French retaking of the Suez Canal in 1956.

Charles De Gaulle became president of France in 1958 which inaugurated the Fifth Republic. He brought into office a dislike of Israel which was coupled with his postcolonial desire to regain the good graces of the Arab World.

French aeronautical firms continued to supply Israel under the table without De Gaulle’s knowledge or consent. When this was blown into the open by Israel’s victory in 1967 using French built fighters & fighter-bombers, De Gaulle promptly clamped an embargo on all aviation exports to Israel including spare parts.

As a result, the Israelis were forced to accelerate development of their own aviation industry. They became masters of industrial espionage toward this end.