Anonymous threats shake Israeli athletes at Paris Olympics
Scandal at the Olympic Games in Paris. Israeli athletes are receiving anonymous threats related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip. The Olympians are not hiding their fear for their lives and health.
12:03 PM EDT, August 7, 2024
Officials from the Israeli Olympic mission have officially reported the threats. Athletes are receiving threats as collateral, paying for the escalation of the war in the Gaza Strip. The vision of a broader conflict in the Middle East is unfortunately real.
According to Yael Arad, head of the Israeli National Olympic Committee, Israeli athletes are being terrorized and cannot focus on athletic competition. Arad is appealing to French authorities to take concrete actions to catch the perpetrators.
Members of our team received general threats intended to instill psychological terror. We do not agree to such treatment - Yael Arad said in an interview with the Associated Press.
French authorities are looking for the culprits
The Paris prosecutor's office launched an investigation last week into the emails received by Israeli athletes. The origin of the threats is unknown at this time.
There was also a leak of personal data of members of the Israeli Olympic mission. Prosecutors are also investigating, among other things, the angle of inciting racial hatred. During the Israel-Paraguay match, obscene gestures were directed at the players.
Israeli athletes are calling for calm. Tom Reuveny, Olympic windsurfing champion, even stated in an interview with AP that similar behavior could lead to a tragedy similar to what we know from the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972.
Let us recall that members of the Palestinian organization Black September carried out a terrorist attack in which 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed.
