Swiss TV calls Israeli Olympic bobsleigh captain a ‘supporter of genocide’ in Gaza

During the Israeli bobsleigh team’s two-man event Monday at the Milano Cortina Olympics, a Swiss commentator questioned the participation of driver AJ Edelman in the 2026 Winter Games, suggesting that he should be barred over his “support of the genocide in Gaza.”

During Radio Television Suisse’s live coverage of the competition, commentator Stefan Renna used the entire nearly two minutes of the Israeli team’s run to lambast Edelman and the supposed hypocrisy of allowing Israeli athletes to compete while Russia is banned from the Olympics due to its invasion of Ukraine.

RTS later said that it pulled the commentary from its website “due to its length.”

“Our journalist wished to question the [International Olympic Committee’s] policy regarding the statements made by the athlete concerned,” RTS said in a statement to Reuters. “However, although factual, such information may have appeared inappropriate due to its length within the context of a sports commentary. For this reason, we removed the segment from our website last night.”

The clip quickly went viral on social media, sparking a response from Edelman, who said he wouldn’t give “credence” to the Swiss broadcast, and sharp condemnation from an Israeli minister and the Olympic Committee of Israel, which demanded an apology from RTS.

“Edelman, a first-time Olympian and self-described ‘Zionist to the core,’ who has posted several messages on social media in support of the genocide in Gaza,” RTS presenter Stefan Renna said as the Israeli team began its second and final run of Monday’s event.

Renna noted that “genocide is the term used by the UN commission of inquiry into the region,” referencing the accusation made last year by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), a non-legal panel that does not speak on behalf of the UN. The accusation, which has not been levied by the UN itself, was immediately rejected by Israel as “distorted and false.”

Jerusalem has repeatedly denied that it has committed genocide in Gaza during the war that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, saying it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stressing that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.

Commentator Stefan Renna on Swiss public broadcaster RTS sparked controversy during Israeli captain AJ Edelman’s second bobsleigh run at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, bringing up Edelman’s past social media posts supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including one… pic.twitter.com/TenlLtbRiw

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) February 17, 2026

As Edelman and his teammate Menachem Chen made their way down the icy course, Renna continued his diatribe against the Israeli captain, saying he “has described the Israeli military intervention as, and I quote, ‘The most morally just war in history.'”

“He also mocked a ‘Free Palestine’ inscription on a wall in Lillehammer on the sidelines of a World Cup stage” last year, said Renna.

“This raises the question of his presence in Cortina during these games,” Renna continued, “since the [International Olympic Committee] had indicated that athletes who have — and I quote — ‘actively supported the war by participating in pro-war events, being militarily engaged, or via their activities on their social media networks’ were not eligible to participate.”

However Renna clarified himself that the regulations he was quoting were specifically for Russian athletes who were allowed to compete at the Olympics as “individual neutral athletes.” Those guidelines do not apply to athletes from other countries. Competitors are allowed to express themselves in any way outside of Olympic sites and venues, according to IOC rules.

“We recall that a controversy has already erupted,” Renna pointed out, “over the refusal of a Ukrainian skeleton athlete to relinquish his helmet bearing the effigies of Ukrainian athletes killed at the front during Russian bombardments. The IOC disqualified this skeleton competitor because he violated, according to the body, the rule against political messages at competition venues.”

Renna was referring the recent disqualification of Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, a move that sparked condemnation from Kyiv.

“This just goes to show that sport is obviously eminently political,” Renna said. “We have other examples this year in Cortina, as is the case at every Olympic games.”

“In any case, Edelman set the 26th and final cumulative time after the first two runs,” the broadcaster said, as he concluded his political monologue and returned to regular coverage of the event following the Israeli team’s last run. Edelman and Chen finished 26th, dead last of the teams that qualified for the event.

The third and final heat of the two-man bobsleigh competition is set to take place Tuesday night at 8 p.m. local time. Edelman and the Israeli team are also set to compete in the four-man bobsleigh event, which will begin Saturday.

Renna’s commentary garnered him praise online from pro-Palestinian activists, while Israel supporters called for him to be fired for his comments.

Responding to the Swiss broadcast’s tirade against him and his country, Edelman took to social media, saying: “I am aware of the diatribe the commentator directed towards the Israeli Bobsled Team on the Swiss Olympics broadcast today.”

I am aware of the diatribe the commentator directed towards the Israeli Bobsled Team on the Swiss Olympics broadcast today.
I can't help but notice the contrast: Shul Runnings is a team of 6 proud Israelis who've made it to the Olympic stage. No coach with us. No big program.… https://t.co/D7xAhhVAL0

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— AJ Edelman, OLY (@realajedelman) February 16, 2026

Dismissing the rhetoric, Edelman praised his team for “working together towards an incredible goal and crushing it. Because that’s what Israelis do.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to witness that and give any credence to the commentary,” Edelman said, adding that he is looking forward to the final two-man run, then “crushing” the four-man event.

Also responding to the Swiss broadcast was Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, who said that he supports Edelman and the Israeli team and called on the IOC “to condemn the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation’s statement and to keep the Winter Olympics free of politics.”

Hours later, the Olympic Committee of Israel issued a statement “demanding an apology from the broadcaster and the channel and to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.”

“Edelman meets all the criteria set by the International Olympic Committee and is eligible to participate in the Games. Any attempt to imply otherwise is baseless,” the committee said.

Reuters contributed to this report.