Issued on: 22/07/2024 – 21:32

2 minutes

According to AFP journalists, the Israeli Olympic delegation left for Paris on Monday with a team of 88 athletes taking part in a competition marked by heightened security concerns and geopolitical tensions over the war in Gaza.

Israeli Olympic Committee President Yael Arad called it a “victory” that the team went to the Games.

“Our first victory is that we are here and we continue, and we did not give up and we have participated in hundreds of matches since October 7,” Arad told reporters at Ben Gurion Airport.

She referred to the date of the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, which began the war that has sparked protests around the world.

French organizers have tightened security measures in Paris and the Israeli delegation will have to adhere to strict security protocols.

“It is no secret that these Olympic Games are a bit more difficult for all of us. But we have every confidence in the organization of the security,” Arad added.

At the same conference, judoka Inbar Lanir acknowledged that Israeli athletes have been embroiled in controversy because of the war, but said she feels “safe.”

“I know that Israelis and the Jewish community around the world are not well liked,” she said.

“My role is to connect everyone through sport. Above all, it’s about politics and wars and hate. So I feel safe and I’m excited to represent my country.”

02:34

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French parliamentarian Thomas Portes caused a political row last weekend by saying Israeli athletes were “not welcome” and calling for “mobilization” around the Olympics, during a demonstration in support of the Palestinians.

But French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said Monday that Israeli athletes are “welcome in France”.

A number of pro-Palestinian protesters and activists in France and the United States, as well as Palestinian sports clubs and the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, joined calls on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to restrict Israel’s official participation in the 2024 Summer Olympics because of the war in Gaza.

In March, the head of the IOC coordination committee for Paris 2024, Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, said it was “unthinkable” that sanctions would be imposed on Israel over the war in Gaza, while Russia and the Olympic Committee were concerned about the invasion of Ukraine.

The Olympic Games in Paris will take place from July 26 to August 11.

Several Israeli athletes are competing for medals, including taekwondo athlete Avishag Semberg, who won bronze at the 2020 Olympics, gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, who brought Israel its first gold medal in gymnastics in 2020, and Lanir, who will become world champion in her category in 2023.

(AFP)