This is one of the first sensitive meetings of the competition, even before the opening ceremony. Israeli footballers face Mali at the Parc des Princes, Wednesday July 24 at 9 p.m., for the start of the Olympic tournament. A match under high security, two days before the official start of the Paris 2024 Olympics, which is to be attended by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The Israeli team’s training sessions, which are being held in Yvelines, are already taking place under surveillance, franceinfo learned from a police source.
While the significant tensions caused by the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have not failed to shake French society in recent months, the debate surrounding the participation of the Hebrew state in the Olympic Games has been relaunched by the rebellious MP Thomas Portes. “No, the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris”he said on Saturday, during a rally in support of the Palestinian people. An attitude immediately described as“irresponsible” by the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF). “Thomas Portes puts (…) a target on the backs of Israeli athletes, already the most threatened at the Olympic Games”denounced Yonathan Arfi on X, recalling that at the Munich Games in 1972, 11 members of the Israeli delegation “were murdered by Palestinian terrorists”during a hostage-taking in the Olympic village.
A commemorative ceremony for the 52nd anniversary of the tragedy is to be held at the Israeli embassy in Paris on August 6, franceinfo learned from an Israeli diplomatic source. While the specter of this attack has loomed over the safety of Israeli athletes at the Olympics for half a century, the security context is this time particularly sensitive for the delegation of nearly 90 athletes. Since the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, followed by the violent response of the Hebrew state against the Islamist movement in the Palestinian enclave, anti-Semitic acts have jumped 300% in France in the first quarter of the year.
Denouncing “hints of anti-Semitism” In the words of MP Thomas Portes, Gérald Darmanin announced on Sunday that it had been decided 15 days ago that “all the teams” Israelis – athletes, staff and referees – would be protected “24 hours a day” by law enforcement for the duration of the competition. The Minister of the Interior specified on Monday that this protection would be provided by the GIGN, an elite unit of the national gendarmerie. According to our information, the Raid, the police’s specialized intervention force, as well as personnel from the Paris police headquarters, will also be mobilized for this mission.
French security forces will share the protection of the Israeli teams according to the disciplines, franceinfo learned from a security source. Several athletes in the delegation, part of which flew from Tel Aviv to Paris on Monday, are likely to win medals, including taekwondo athlete Avishag Semberg, bronze medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, gold medalist in Japan, and judoka Inbar Lanir, 2023 world champion in her category. “It is no secret that these Olympic Games are a little more difficult for all of us, but we have full confidence in the security organization”said, quoted by AFP, the president of the Israeli Olympic Committee, Yaël Arad, before departure from Ben-Gurion airport.
According to an Israeli diplomatic source, the delegation is staying in the Olympic village of Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) like the majority of the teams. The protection of the Israeli athletes is co-provided by members of their country’s security services, who have made the trip. The latter will notably be present (and armed) on their delegation’s boat during the opening ceremony, franceinfo learned from a police source.
As explained by Miki Zohar, Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports, in the columns of the British daily The TelegraphIsraeli authorities have doubled the budget usually allocated to the security of the Olympic delegation. Without each having their own bodyguard, the athletes will be closely monitored by the Israeli intelligence service, the Shin Bet, he adds.
“We do our best to make the athletes feel free, but also safe and not afraid. We don’t want them to notice the guards too much.”
Miki Zohar, Israeli Minister of Culture and Sportsto the “Telegraph”
According to information from France Télévisions, each Israeli athlete will be geolocated in real time. “A briefing is organized every day with the Israeli protection teams and we coordinate according to the events, the movements, the imperatives, the calendar”a French security source explains to franceinfo. The police are sleeping in the same building as the delegation, in order to ensure its protection 24 hours a day. On the GIGN side, it is the men of the Security Protection Force who will be on the move, franceinfo learned from the same source. Trained in particular to protect ambassadors in countries in crisis, they have already secured sports teams, during Euro 2016 and the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
The Israeli delegation is of course not the only one to benefit from close protection during these Games. But it is subject to a separate, more substantial system. As the Interior Ministry specified to franceinfo, the number of members of the police force engaged for the Games – 35,000 each day – allows “adjustments” in real time, depending on how the situation evolves, for some others “sensitive delegations”such as the United States, Iran or Ukraine.
Like Israel, the Americans are coming to the country with their own security services, which are working in concert with the French authorities. “The intelligence services are on active standby to exchange information and adapt security measures according to circumstances”explains to franceinfo Thierry Clair, general secretary of the Unsa police union.
“The goal is to allow athletes to stay focused on the sport while ensuring their safety.”
An Israeli diplomatic sourceto franceinfo
Israeli athletes were prepared for a tough competition, with possible insults and boos. “I don’t hear what’s going on around me. I listen to my coaches, what’s in my head. The public can shout at me, I do my best with all my heart.”Raz Hershko, a judo champion, told France Télévisions. Before taking off for Paris, her colleague Inbar Lanir went in the same direction during a press conference, reported AFP: “My role is to communicate with people through sport. I feel safe and I am happy to represent my country.” “Israeli athletes are welcome” And “must be able to compete under their colours”declared Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday on France 2 and franceinfo.