Israeli Olympics Team Gets France’s 24 Hours Security

Israeli athletes are getting 24-hour protection at the Paris Olympics, France’s interior minister said after a far-left lawmaker said Israel’s delegation was not welcome and called for protests against their participation. The Games started at the weekend amid pronounced security concerns at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions over the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Israel’s war against Hamas that has devastated Gaza has become a lightning rod among France’s far left, with some critics accusing pro-Palestinian members of antisemitism. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in a TV interview that Israeli athletes would be protected around the clock during the Games, 52 years after the Munich Olympics massacre in which 11 Israelis were killed by Palestinian militants. Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne told a meeting of European Union counterparts in Brussels, “I want to say that on behalf of France, to the Israeli delegation, we welcome you to France for these Olympic Games.” He said he would emphasise that point in an imminent phone call with his Israeli counterpart, and also “tell him that we are ensuring the security of the Israeli delegation”. At a pro-Gaza rally, far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party lawmaker Thomas Portes was filmed saying Israel’s Olympic athletes were not welcome in France, and that there should be protests against their taking part in the Games. The international event which will is holding in Paris, which is the Olympic Games. And I am here to say that no, the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris,” he said to applause, according to images posted on social media. Portes did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Israeli embassy declined to comment. Some LFI lawmakers offered a partial defence of Portes’ comments. Manuel Bompard, a senior party official and lawmaker, wrote on X that he supported Portes “in the face of the wave of hatred he is experiencing. “Faced with repeated violations of international law by the Israeli government, it is legitimate to ask that its athletes compete under a neutral banner in the Olympic Games,” he wrote. In a sign of the complex security issues surrounding the Israeli delegation, a memorial ceremony for the Israeli athletes killed in the 1972 Munich attack has been moved from outside Paris’ City Hall to the Israeli embassy. “The request from the French authorities to move the ceremony to the embassy from City Hall was received due to the fact that it was destined to be held in the restricted security area (‘grey area’) prior to the Olympic Games,” the embassy said in a statement. The Games kicked off with an ambitious opening ceremony along the Seine with athletes paraded in barges down the river. Participation is optional, however, and Israeli officials have declined to say whether Israel’s athletes will take part. In another development, a French MP is facing severe criticism from the Jewish lobby as well as party colleagues for saying Israeli athletes were not welcome at the Paris Olympics. Thomas Portes, a lawmaker from France Unbowed, or LFI, said at a rally in support of Palestinians that “the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli sportspeople are not welcome at the Paris Olympic Games”. He also said later that “France’s diplomats should pressure the International Olympic Committee to bar the Israeli flag and anthem, as is done for Russia”. “It’s time to end the double standard,” Mr Portes said.