French FM says Israeli athletes welcome in France after hard-left MP urges their exclusion

A tourist chariot passes in front of a banner calling for the Israeli team to be banned from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Jakarta on July 21, 2024. (Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)
A tourist chariot passes in front of a banner calling for the Israeli team to be banned from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Jakarta on July 21, 2024. (Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

PARIS, France — Israeli athletes are welcome at the Paris Olympics, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne says after a hard-left member of the French parliament sparked outrage by urging them to stay away.

“The Israeli delegation is welcome in France,” Sejourne says ahead of talks with his Israeli counterpart, adding that the call by France Unbowed (LFI) lawmaker Thomas Portes for the country’s exclusion had been “irresponsible and dangerous.”

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