The blue and white flag will fly in front of a billion television viewers. During the opening ceremony The 88 Israeli athletes will parade alongside other delegations at the Paris Olympic Games, which will be held on Friday, July 26, on the Seine. “It is one of the most controlled and most at-risk nations,” the Italian daily emphasizes. The Republic, recalling that the transalpine athletes will be on the same boat. But before the official kick-off, the Israeli players will face their Malian counterparts during the football tournament at the Parc des Princes, on Wednesday evening, July 24. A thousand police officers will be mobilized.
“International events of this type represent a prime target for threats and attacks by various terrorist groups, due to the media impact they can have,” Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) warned in the newspaper Times of Israel. While the government of Benjamin Netanyahu relentlessly bombs this enclave, the fear is that the conflict in the Middle East will come to the heart of Paris. It is difficult to forget the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the attack (which left 1,200 dead) by the Palestinian terrorist movement on October 7 in southern Israel. In almost ten months, the Israeli offensive on Palestinian territory has left nearly 40,000 dead, according to the latest figures from Hamas.
“Israeli athletes are welcome,” Emmanuel Macron repeated on France 2 and Franceinfo on Tuesday, July 23. The President of the Republic returned to the remarks of the La France Insoumise MP Thomas Portes, which he described as “unacceptable.” The latter had declared on July 20 that Israeli athletes were “not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris” and had called for using Paris 2024 and “all levers to create mobilizations” in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. Iran and the Palestinian Olympic Committee have also called for banning Israeli athletes from participating in the Olympic Games.
For its part, the NSC is encouraging Israelis attending the Olympics to download the Home Front Command application (responsible for civil protection). Times of Israel reports that Israeli athletes have received threatening emails and fears a repeat of the events in Munich in 1972, a reference to the massacre in which the terrorist group Black September killed 11 Israeli athletes and a German policeman. Added to this was another security challenge: the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the opening ceremony.
Athletes escorted by police
In this tense geopolitical context, the French Minister of the Interior – in collaboration with Israeli forces – has increased the level of protection afforded to athletes from the Hebrew State. According to Gérald Darmanin, “all teams” from the Hebrew State will be protected “twenty-four hours a day” by law enforcement for the duration of the Olympic Games, “including referees”. Beauvau also announced the permanent presence of the GIGN. In addition, police officers will accompany athletes in their travels and each athlete will be geolocated in real time, according to our colleagues at FranceinfoAlong with the United States and Iran, the Hebrew state is one of the most closely monitored delegations.
According to our colleagues at Figaro, The Israeli Olympic Committee is “in daily contact with its international counterpart, the French police, the Paris municipality, the organizing committee and Unit 730 of the Shin Bet (the Israeli intelligence agency), in charge of protecting all Israeli athletes and their staff.” Still in the conservative daily, other constraints are mentioned for athletes: a ban on leaving the Olympic Village, traveling in the Paris metro or speaking Hebrew. The Shin Bet reportedly recommended that Israeli athletes leave the Olympic Village within forty-eight hours after the end of the competition.
Fear of a hostile reception
But these measures come at a price: the security budget amounts to 7 million new Israeli shekels (1.7 million euros), according to the Israeli media Ynet translated by Le Figaro. For comparison, it was 4.3 million at the Rio and Tokyo Games. It is worth noting that since the 1972 Summer Olympics, the Israeli team has brought its own security service to the games every time.
In addition to security concerns, “many athletes are also bracing for a harsh reception, with protests outside matches, booing in stadiums, opponents refusing to shake their hands or other staged provocations, in the context of the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” the report said. Times of Israel. According to Yael Arad, the president of the Israeli Olympic Committee, the athletes are obviously hoping for medals, “but our first victory is to be here, to not have given up, to have participated in hundreds of competitions since October 7… What guides us is the flag of Israel.”
In addition, eight Palestinian athletes will also participate in the Olympic Games. For these, no security arrangements have been announced by the French government so far.