France to give 24-hour protection to Israeli Olympics team amid Gaza tensions

[July 22, 2024]  PARIS (Reuters) -Israeli athletes will receive 24-hour protection during 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 begin on Friday 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 on Sunday evening 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.

Darmanin spoke after 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.

"We are a few days away from an international event which will be held 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.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said at a meeting with European Union counterparts in Brussels: "I want to say on behalf of France, to the Israeli delegation, we welcome you to France for these Olympic Games."

He said he would emphasize 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".

Paul Benvie, one of the U.S. State Department officials coordinating Olympics security for Team USA, told Reuters that anti-Israeli sentiment was "one of a number of issues" Washington was looking at, and "part of the ongoing analysis to determine where do we need to adjust our strategies".

French President Emmanuel Macron and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin listen to Paris police Prefect Laurent Nunez on a visit to the police station of the Olympic village for the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, July 22, 2024. Michel Euler/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Portes did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Israeli embassy declined to comment.

Some LFI lawmakers offered a partial defense 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.

Israel denies violating international law in its war in Gaza triggered by a cross-border Hamas attack in October last year.

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 Games kick 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.

(Reporting by John Irish and Tassilo Hummel; writing by Gabriel Stargardter; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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