‘Armed guards with us 24/7’: Israel’s Olympians compete in Paris under tight security
Showjumper says athletes only permitted to be in village or competition site; head of Olympic Committee of Israel says team ready for ‘all kinds of provocation’
Security is tight for Israel’s team at the Paris Olympics as Mideast tensions spiral and amid lingering memories of the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Games.
The 88 members of the Israeli delegation are accompanied by elite French police and gendarmerie units wherever they go — a security deployment that is not always easy to manage. The delegation is also protected by Israel’s Shin Bet security agency.
“We have armed guards with us 24/7,” said Ashlee Bond, a member of Israel’s showjumping team. “Our place where we’re staying is like a compound. We can’t go out of the village without armed guards. And we can only go from the village (to competition site) and back.”
Israel had won six Olympic medals by Monday — one gold, four silver and one bronze — already a record in its Olympic history.
Amid the war against Hamas sparked by the terror group’s October 7 massacre, Peter Paltchik, who won bronze in judo, said he was devoting his win and medal “to all the families of my country.”
Middle East tensions have risen even further since the assassinations last week of a top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, blamed on Israel by Tehran, and of a high-ranking Hezbollah commander in Beirut, for which Israel has claimed responsibility.
In Paris, a cyberattack led to the publication of sensitive personal information of some Israeli athletes on social media, and several of the team’s representatives have received emailed death threats.
Israel remains traumatized by an attack on its Olympics team in Munich in 1972 by Palestinian terrorists from Black September in which 11 athletes died.
Yael Arad, the head of Israel’s Olympics committee and a former judo bronze medal winner, has said she had confidence that the security detail for her team would keep them safe.
The team is trying not to stir up controversy.
“If you’re a bit intelligent you understand that it’s a sensitive topic and as athletes it’s not our role to get involved,” said Robin Muhr, a French-born showjumper who now competes for Israel.
Israel’s athletes have been the target of booing and hostile messages during their events, including a “Genocide Olympics” banner unfurled during the Israel-Paraguay soccer game in Paris’s Parc des Princes stadium.
Arad said such incidents were “tough” on her team, but they were prepared for “all kinds of provocation” and did not let it stop them from participating in the opening ceremony of the Games on the River Seine despite security concerns.
And on some occasions, the Israelis have been welcomed and encouraged by the public.
In Versailles, site of the equestrian contests, spectators waved Israeli flags and applauded at every passage of the country’s riders, and Israeli judokas were also well received.
“We have so much support, which is shocking to me because we were obviously prepared for people to not be supportive,” said Bond. “The fact that we had so much support brought tears to my eyes.”
