French police investigating death threats targeting Israeli Olympians
Police watch as Israel supporters arrive at the men’s soccer match between Israel and Mali at the 2024 Paris Olympics, July 24, 2024, in Paris. (Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
(JTA) — French police are investigating death threats received by three Israeli Olympic athletes in Paris, the city’s prosecutor announced Sunday.
The threats come amid mounting security concerns for Israel’s delegation of nearly 90 athletes, one of the country’s largest-ever Olympic cohorts. Olympic organizers have arranged for 24/7 security for Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village and in transit to Olympic venues, where anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters have been present at numerous events.
The development also comes days after a since-debunked video went viral that appeared to show a Hamas member threatening that “rivers of blood will flow through the streets of Paris” because of Israel’s inclusion in the Olympics. Researchers concluded that the video was the work of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Earlier this month, 15 Israeli Olympians received phone calls and emails threatening violence against them if they attended the Paris Olympics. “If you come, take into account that we intend to repeat the events of Munich 1972,” one of the messages read, referring to the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
In another incident that the Times of Israel reports is unrelated, the personal data of members of Israel’s delegation was leaked on social media on Friday. The leaks came one day after Israel’s foreign minister warned of Iranian efforts to target Israeli athletes and attendees of the Paris Olympics.
“We currently have assessments regarding the potential threat posed by Iranian terrorist proxies and other terrorist organizations who aim to carry out attacks against members of the Israeli delegation and Israeli tourists during the Olympics,” Israel Katz wrote in a letter, according to Reuters.
In response to the allegations, the Iranian mission to the United Nations told Reuters that “Terrorist acts have no place in the principles of resistance groups; lies and deceit cannot switch the roles of the plaintiff and the accused.”
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