Israeli Olympics team to get 24-hour guard amid Gaza tensions and Munich repeat threat
- Email from ‘People’s Defence Organisation’ threatens repeat of 1972 Games attack in which 11 Israelis and 1 German police officer died.
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Israeli athletes will receive 24-hour protection during the Paris Olympics, France’s interior minister said on Monday, amid email threats of a repeat of the attack at the 1972 Games in Munich that left 12 people dead.
A French far-left lawmaker also fanned the flames, saying the country’s delegation was not welcome and calling for protests against its inclusion.
The Games begin this Friday amid pronounced security concerns at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions over the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Israel’s war against Hamas that has devastated Gaza has become a lightning rod among France’s far left, with some critics accusing pro-Palestinian members of antisemitism.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a television interview Israeli athletes would be protected around the clock during the Games, 52 years after Munich, in which 11 Israelis and a German police officer, were killed by Palestinian militants.
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