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Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics

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Israel at the
2024 Summer Olympics
IOC codeISR
NOCOlympic Committee of Israel
Websitewww.olympicsil.co.il (in Hebrew and English)
in Paris, France
26 July 2024 (2024-07-26) – 11 August 2024 (2024-08-11)
Competitors88 (54 men and 34 women) in 16 sports and 67 events
Flag bearer (opening)Peter Paltchik & Andrea Murez
Flag bearer (closing)Tom Reuveny & Romi Paritzki
Medals
Ranked 41st
Gold
1
Silver
5
Bronze
1
Total
7
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

Israel competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. This was the nation's 18th appearance at the Summer Olympics. Since Israel's debut in 1952, Israeli athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, other than the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which it opted not to attend in accordance with the US-led boycott. It was Israel's most successful Olympic Games by number of medals.[1]

The participation of Israel in 2024 prompted calls from twenty-six French lawmakers,[2][3] Palestinian, and other global sports organizations for sanctions against Israel and to prevent its participation due to the impact of the Israel–Hamas war on Palestinian athletes and sports facilities, but IOC President Thomas Bach confirmed this was never an issue for the IOC[4] and cautioned athletes against boycotts and discrimination. The president of the Olympic Committee of Israel, Yael Arad, assured that Israeli athletes would "100 per cent" be present, with safety measures in place.[5]

The judoka Peter Paltchik and swimmer Andrea Murez were chosen as the nation's flag bearers at the opening ceremony.[6] Israel finished the games with seven medals, including one gold.

Medalists

Competitors

2024 Israel Olympic Team at the President's House

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games. Note that reserve athletes are not counted:

Sport Men Women Total
Archery 1 1 2
Artistic swimming 0 2 2
Athletics 4 2 6
Badminton 1 0 1
Cycling 3 1 4
Equestrian 2 2 4
Fencing 1 0 1
Football 18 0 18
Gymnastics 1 7 8
Judo 5 7 12
Sailing 4 4 8
Shooting 1 0 1
Surfing 0 1 1
Swimming 12 6 18
Taekwondo 0 1 1
Triathlon 1 0 1
Total 54 34 88

Archery

Israeli archers Roy Dror [he] and Mikaella Moshe

Israel qualified two archers (one per gender) in the individual recurve and mixed team events, through the final release of the Olympic ranking for Paris 2024.[7]

Athlete Event Ranking round Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final / BM
Score Seed Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Roy Dror [he] Men's individual 655 42  Wijler (NED)
L 2–6
Did not advance 33
Mikaella Moshe Women's individual 660 18  Amăistroaie (ROU)
L 1–7
Did not advance 33
Roy Dror [he]
Mikaella Moshe
Mixed team 1315 18 Did not advance 18

Artistic swimming

Israel qualified two athletes to compete in the women's duet as a result of high rank at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.[8]

Athlete Event Technical routine Free routine Total
Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank
Shelly Bobritsky
Ariel Nassee
Duet 243.0666 9 239.3416 11 482.4082 11

Athletics

Lonah Chemtai Salpeter
Maru Teferi

Israeli track and field athletes achieved the entry standards for Paris 2024, either by passing the direct qualifying mark (or time for track and road races) or by world ranking, in the following events (a maximum of 3 athletes each):[9]

Key
  • Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
  • Q = Qualified for the next round
  • q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
  • NR = National record
  • N/A = Round not applicable for the event
  • Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round
Track & road events
Athlete Event Heat Repechage Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Blessing Afrifah Men's 200 m 20.78 5 R 20.88 4 Did not advance
Maru Teferi Men's marathon 2:10:42 SB 26
Gashau Ayale 2:11:36 31
Girmaw Amare 2:12:51 SB 44
Lonah Chemtai Salpeter Women's marathon 2:26:08 SB 9
Maor Tiyouri 2:33:37 49

Badminton

Israel entered one badminton player into the Olympic tournament based on the BWF Race to Paris Rankings.

Athlete Event Group stage Elimination Quarter-final Semi-final Final / BM
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Misha Zilberman Men's singles  Nguyen (IRL)
L (17–21, 21–19, 13–21)
 Axelsen (DEN)
L (9–21, 11–21)
 Dahal (NEP)
W (21–12, 21–10)
3 Did not advance 27

Cycling

Road

Rotem Gafinovitz

Israel qualified one male cyclist by finishing 39th in the UCI Nation Ranking, and one women cyclist by finishing 44th in the UCI Nation Ranking.[10]

Athlete Event Time Ranking
Itamar Einhorn Men's road race 6:39:27 62
Rotem Gafinovitz Women's road race 4:13:42 77

Track

Israel qualified two riders for the men's sprint and keirin events following the release of the final UCI Olympic rankings, but chose to send only one rider to compete.[11]

Sprint
Athlete Event Qualification Round 1 Repechage 1 Round 2 Repechage 2 Round 3 Repechage 3 Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals / BM
Time
Speed (km/h)
Rank Opposition
Time
Speed (km/h)
Opposition
Time
Speed (km/h)
Opposition
Time
Speed (km/h)
Opposition
Time
Speed (km/h)
Opposition
Time
Speed (km/h)
Opposition
Time
Speed (km/h)
Opposition
Time
Speed (km/h)
Opposition
Time
Speed (km/h)
Opposition
Time
Speed (km/h)
Rank
Mikhail Iakovlev Men's sprint 9.152
78.671
3 Q  Sahrom (MAS)
W 9.779
73.627
 Tjon En Fa (SUR)
W 9.895
72.764
 Turnbull (GBR)
L 9.741
73.922
 Rudyk (POL)
 Awang (MAS)
L 10.020
72.246
Did not advance 9
Mikhail Iakovlev
Keirin
Athlete Event Round 1 Repechage Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Rank
Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank
Mikhail Iakovlev Men's keirin 1 Q 5 Did not advance 13

Mountain biking

Israel qualified one man mountain biker based on the UCI Mountain biking Olympic Qualification Ranking due to reallocations of unused quota places.

Athlete Event Time Rank
Tomer Zaltsman Men's cross-country 1:34:47 29

Equestrian

Israel fielded a squad of three equestrian riders into the team jumping competitions by winning at the International Equestrian Federation designated Olympic jumping qualifier for Group C (Central and Eastern Europe) in Prague, Czech Republic.[12] Isabella Russekoff on C Vier 2 was reserve for the team competition. She partic in the individual competition.

Jumping

Athlete Horse Event Qualification Final
Penalties Rank Penalties Time Rank
Daniel Bluman Ladriano Z Individual RT Did not advance
Robin Muhr Galaxy HM 8 42 Did not advance
Isabella Russekoff C Vier 2 20 64 Did not advance
Daniel Bluman
Ashlee Bond
Robin Muhr
Ladriano Z
Donatello 141
Galaxy HM
Team 20 9 Q 33 157.45 9

Fencing

Yuval Freilich

For the first time since 2008, Israel entered one fencer into the Olympic competition. Yuval Freilich secured his quota place in men's épée, as one of the two highest-ranked individual fencers in the European zone in the FIE Official ranking for Paris 2024.

Athlete Event Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinal Semifinal Final / BM
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Yuval Freilich Men's épée Bye  Santarelli (ITA)
L 13–15
Did not advance 19

Football

Summary

Key:

Team Event Group Stage Quarterfinal Semifinal Final / BM
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Israel men's Men's tournament  Mali
D 1–1
 Paraguay
L 2–4
 Japan
L 0–1
4 Did not advance 15

Men's tournament

Israel men's football team qualified for the Olympics by advancing to the semifinals of the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Georgia and Romania, marking the nation's return to the sport for the first time since Montreal 1976.[13]

Team roster

Israel announced a 29-men preliminary squad on 23 May 2024.[14] The final squad was released on 2 July.[15] Omer Nir'on replaced the injured Daniel Peretz on 18 July, while Roy Sason was called-up as an alternate player.[16]

Head coach: Guy Luzon

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Omer Nir'on (2001-04-17)17 April 2001 (aged 23) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Netanya
2 2DF Ilay Feingold (2004-08-23)23 August 2004 (aged 19) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Haifa
3 2DF Sean Goldberg* (1995-08-25)25 August 1995 (aged 28) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Haifa
4 2DF Stav Lemkin (2003-04-02)2 April 2003 (aged 21) 0 0 Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk
5 2DF Roy Revivo (2003-05-22)22 May 2003 (aged 21) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
6 3MF Omri Gandelman* (captain) (2000-05-16)16 May 2000 (aged 24) 0 0 Belgium Gent
7 2DF Osher Davida (2001-02-18)18 February 2001 (aged 23) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
8 3MF Ethan Azoulay (2002-05-26)26 May 2002 (aged 22) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Netanya
9 4FW Dor Turgeman (2003-10-24)24 October 2003 (aged 20) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
10 3MF Oscar Gloukh (2004-04-01)1 April 2004 (aged 20) 0 0 Austria Red Bull Salzburg
11 4FW Liel Abada (2001-10-03)3 October 2001 (aged 22) 0 0 United States Charlotte FC
12 2DF Noam Ben Harush (2005-05-13)13 May 2005 (aged 19) 0 0 Israel Hapoel Haifa
13 4FW Elad Madmon (2004-02-10)10 February 2004 (aged 20) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
14 3MF Ayano Preda (2002-04-29)29 April 2002 (aged 22) 0 0 Israel Hapoel Jerusalem
15 3MF Adi Yona (2004-04-17)17 April 2004 (aged 20) 0 0 Israel Beitar Jerusalem
16 2DF Or Israelov (2004-09-02)2 September 2004 (aged 19) 0 0 Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv
17 3MF Ido Shahar (2001-08-20)20 August 2001 (aged 22) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
18 1GK Niv Eliasi (2002-02-01)1 February 2002 (aged 22) 0 0 Israel Hapoel Be'er Sheva
22 1GK Roy Sason (2001-12-13)13 December 2001 (aged 22) 0 0 Israel Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv

* Overage player.

Group play
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Japan 3 3 0 0 7 0 +7 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Paraguay 3 2 0 1 5 7 −2 6
3  Mali 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
4  Israel 3 0 1 2 3 6 −3 1
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Mali 1–1 Israel
  • Doumbia 63'
Report
Attendance: 26,305[17]
Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)

Israel 2–4 Paraguay
Report
Attendance: 28,887[18]
Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)

Israel 0–1 Japan
Report Hosoya 90+1'

Gymnastics

Artistic

2020 Olympic gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat

Israel qualified two gymnasts, Artem Dolgopyat and Lihie Raz, by their being among the highest-ranked eligible athletes in the All-around at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.[20][21]

Men
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Apparatus Total Rank Apparatus Total Rank
F PH R V PB HB F PH R V PB HB
Artem Dolgopyat Floor 14.466 14.466 7 Q 14.966 14.966 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Pommel horse 13.000 13.000 46 Did not advance
Women
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Apparatus Total Rank Apparatus Total Rank
V UB BB F V UB BB F
Lihie Raz All-around 13.666 12.833 12.300 12.833 51.632 31 R1 Did not advance
Vault 13.449 13.449 16 Did not advance

Rhythmic

Israel entered a squad of rhythmic gymnasts to compete in the group all-around competition, following the nation's successful runner-up at the 2022 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.[22][23] Additionally, Israel also entered an individual gymnast through the individual all-round qualifications at the 2023 World Championships in Valencia, Spain.

Daria Atamanov
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon Total Rank Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon Total Rank
Daria Atamanov Individual 33.250 32.700 32.100 32.400 130.450 7 Q 35.200 31.800 33.850 33.000 133.850 5
Athletes Event Qualification Final
5 apps 3+2 apps Total Rank 5 apps. 3+2 apps Total Rank
Ofir Shaham
Diana Svertsov
Adar Friedmann
Romi Paritzki
Shani Bakanov
Group 35.250 31.900 67.150 6 Q 35.600 33.250 68.850 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Judo

Judoka listed are those who secured qualification.

Men
Sagi Muki
Athlete Event Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Repechage Final / BM Rank
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Yam Wolczak −60 kg  Kisoka (COD)
W 10–00
 Sardalashvili (GEO)
L 00–11
Did not advance 9
Baruch Shmailov −66 kg  Boushita (MAR)
W 01–00
 Emomali (TJK)
L 00–01
Did not advance 9
Tohar Butbul −73 kg  Dris (ALG)(DSQ)
W 10–00
 Heydarov (AZE)
L 00–10
Did not advance 9
Sagi Muki −81 kg Bye  Cavelius (GER)
W 10–00
 Lee (KOR)
L 00–10
Did not advance 9
Peter Paltchik −100 kg  Gonchigsüren (MGL)
W 10–00
 Diesse (FRA)
W 10–00
 Kotsoiev (AZE)
L 00–01
Did not advance  Korrel (NED)
W 10–00
 Eich (SUI)
W 01–00
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Women
Gefen Primo
Athlete Event Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Repechage Final / BM Rank
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Shira Rishony −48 kg  Abuzhakynova (KAZ)
L 00–01
Did not advance 17
Gefen Primo −52 kg  Jung (KOR)
W 10–00
 Ndiaye (SUI)
W 01–00
 Krasniqi (KOS)
L 00–10
Did not advance  Pupp (HUN)
L 00–10
Did not advance 7
Timna Nelson-Levy −57 kg  Kajzer (SLO)
W 01–00
 Huh (KOR)
L 00–10
Did not advance 9
Gili Sharir −63 kg  Agbegnenou (FRA)
L 00–01
Did not advance 17
Maya Goshen −70 kg  Ögel (TUR)
W 10–00
 Gahié (FRA)
L 00–10
Did not advance 9
Inbar Lanir −78 kg Bye  Khüslen (MGL)
W 10–00
 Steenhuis (NED)
W 10–00
 Wagner (GER)
W 10–00
 Bellandi (ITA)
L 00–11
2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Raz Hershko +78 kg Bye  Kamps (NED)
W 10–00
 Žabić (SRB)
W 10–00
 Özdemir (TUR)
W 10–00
 Souza (BRA)
L 00–01
2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Mixed

Nations qualifying at least one athlete in the −57 (−48, −52 & −57), −70 (−57, −63 & −70) & +70 (−70, −78 & +78) weight categories for women, and at least one athlete in the −73 (−60, −66 & −73), −90 (−73, −81 & −90) & +90 (−90, −100 & +100) weight categories for men, would compete in the team event.

Team Event Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Repechage Final / BM Rank
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Yam Wolczak
Baruch Shmailov
Tohar Butbul
Sagi Muki
Peter Paltchik
Shira Rishony
Gefen Primo
Timna Nelson-Levy
Gili Sharir
Maya Goshen
Inbar Lanir
Raz Hershko
Team  Mongolia (MGL)
W 4–3
 France (FRA)
L 0–4
Did not advance 9

Sailing

Israeli sailors qualified one boat in Men's and Women's iQFoil, Women's Formula Kite, and Mixed 470 through the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands;[24] They also qualified one boat in Men's Laser through the 2024 ILCA Senior European Championships in Athens, Greece. Additionally, Israeli sailors qualified one boat in Women's Laser Radial through the 2024 ILCA Senior European Championships after Portugal's quota from the 2023 Sailing World Championships was disqualified because Vasileia Karachaliou did not receive Portuguese citizenship and was not approved to representing Portugal.[25]

Elimination events
Athlete Event Opening Series Final Series Final rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Net Points Rank QF SF F
Tom Reuveny Men's iQFoil 8 13 5 3 3 4 BFD
(25)
3 5 13 14 4 2 Cancelled 63 2 Q Bye 2 Q 1 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Sharon Kantor Women's iQFoil DSQ
(25)
6 10 1 1 3 4 2 15 1 2 6 2 11 Cancelled 49 2 Q Bye 1 Q 2 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Athlete Event Opening Series Final Series Final rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Net Points Rank SF1 SF2 SF3 SF4 SF5 SF6 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6
Dor Zarka Men's Formula Kite 15 3 DSQ
(21)
9 12 UFD
(21)
13 Cancelled 52 13 Did not advance 13
Gal Zukerman Women's Formula Kite 10 9 10 11 5 11 Cancelled 45 10 Q 3 Did not advance 8
Medal race events
Athlete Event Race Net points Final rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 M*
Omer Vered Vilenchik Men's ILCA7 38 3 7 40 36 37 20 25 C EL 166 30
Shai Kakon Women's ILCA6 22 33 12 7 31 34 25 10 18 C EL 158 24
Noa Lasri
Nitai Hasson
Mixed 470 10 7 18 9 8 2 7 14 C 10 67 7

M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race

Shooting

Sergey Richter

Israeli shooter Sergey Richter achieved quota places for the delegation in the men's 10 metre air rifle through the ISSF World Olympic Rankings after universality spots were reallocated. This willl be his fourth appearance at the Olympics.[26]

Athlete Event Qualification Final
Points Rank Points Rank
Sergey Richter Men's 10 m air rifle 626.4 33 Did not advance

Surfing

Israel surfers confirmed one shortboard quota place. Anat Lelior qualified for the games, by virtue of being one of the top eight individual women's surfers, not yet qualified, at the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.[27][28]

Anat Lelior
Athlete Event Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Quarterfinal Semifinal Final / BM
Score Rank Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Anat Lelior Women's shortboard 5.43 2 Q2  Gonzalez-Etxabarri (ESP)
W 11.00–2.80
 Wright (AUS)
L 7.74–11.10
Did not advance 9

Swimming

Gal Cohen Groumi
Tomer Frankel
Adam Maraana
Anastasia Gorbenko
Lea Polonsky

Israeli swimmers achieved the entry standards in the following events for Paris 2024 (a maximum of two swimmers under the Olympic Qualifying Time (OST) and potentially at the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT)):[29]

Men
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Meiron Cheruti 50 m freestyle 21.88 10 Q 21.91 13 Did not advance
Martin Kartavi 22.01 19 Did not advance
Tomer Frankel 100 m freestyle 48.66 21 Did not advance
100 m butterfly 51.94 21 Did not advance
Denis Loktev 200 m freestyle 1:47.01 14 Q 1:47.93 16 Did not advance
Gal Cohen Groumi 100 m butterfly 51.30 10 Q 51.48 12 Did not advance
Adam Maraana 100 m backstroke 54.61 28 Did not advance
David Gerchik 200 m backstroke 1:58.79 22 Did not advance
Ron Polonsky 100 m breaststroke 1:00.00 NR 16 Q 1:00.37 16 Did not advance
200 m individual medley 1:58.30 =7 Q 1:58.89 12 Did not advance
Tomer Frankel
Gal Cohen Groumi
Denis Loktev
Alexey Glivinskiy
4 × 100 m freestyle relay 3:15.41 14 Did not advance
Denis Loktev
Bar Soloveychik
Eitan Ben Shitrit
Gal Cohen Groumi
4 × 200 m freestyle relay 7:08.43 NR =8 Q 7:10.22 9
Matan Roditi 10 km open water 1:57:02.3 16
Women
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Anastasia Gorbenko 200 m backstroke 2:10.29 13 Q 2:11.96 16 Did not advance
100 m breaststroke 1:06.22 7 Q Withdraw
200 m individual medley 2:11.53 11 Q 2:10.32 9 Did not advance
400 m individual medley 4:41.64 10 Did not advance
Aviv Barzelay 100 m backstroke 1:02.30 25 Did not advance
200 m backstroke 2:10.71 18 Did not advance
Lea Polonsky 200 m freestyle 2:00.38 19 Did not advance
200 m individual medley 2:17.53 28 Did not advance
Anastasia Gorbenko
Daria Golovaty
Ayla Spitz
Lea Polonsky
4 × 200 m freestyle relay 7:55.99 11 Did not advance
Mixed
Athlete Event Heat Final
Time Rank Time Rank
Anastasia Gorbenko
Gal Cohen Groumi
Ron Polonsky
Andrea Murez
4 × 100 m medley relay 3:45.33 10 Did not advance

Taekwondo

Avishag Semberg

Israel qualified one athlete. Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Avishag Semberg qualified for Paris 2024 at the 2024 European Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Athlete Event Qualification Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Repechage Final / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Avishag Semberg Women's −49 kg Bye  Abutaleb (KSA)
L 1–2
Did not advance 11

Triathlon

Israel qualified one male triathlete based on the World Triathlon Individual Olympic Qualification Ranking. Shachar Sagiv, who was the triathlete who qualified in the ranking, was selected to represent Israel in the 2024 Olympics.[30]

Athlete Event Time Rank
Swim (1.5 km) Trans 1 Bike (40 km) Trans 2 Run (10 km) Total
Shachar Sagiv Men's 21:31 0:48 54:33 0:27 32:13 1:49:32 37

Controversies and protests

Calls for ban on participation

Palestinian sports organizations and sports organizations from Arab countries are calling for sanctions to be imposed against Israel and to prevent its participation in the 2024 Summer Olympics due to the Israel–Hamas war. The calls from the Palestinian and Arab organizations have been prompted by concerns about the war's impact on Palestinian athletes and sports facilities.[31][32]

In February, twenty-six French lawmakers sent a letter to the IOC, urging sanctions against Israel, and calling for a ban on Israeli athletes competing under their flag and anthem. The lawmakers cited Israel's alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip as the reason for their stance. They proposed that Israeli athletes participate neutrally, similar to Russian and Belarusian athletes, during the Games.[2][3] The American-based global organization Avaaz started an online appeal calling on IOC to ban Israel from the Games until it "ceases its assault on innocent civilians in Gaza."[33]

Thomas Portes, a lawmaker from La France Insoumise party, was captured on video saying that Israel's Olympic athletes "were not welcome in France" and called for protests against their participation in the Olympic games.[34] On 23 July 2024, protests were held in Paris by pro-Palestinian demonstrators urging the IOC to have Israel excluded from the Games.[35]

Withdrawals

The IOC has cautioned athletes against boycotting or discriminating against others, stating that immediate action will follow any discriminatory behavior such as the case of Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine, who received a ten year ban following his refusal to fight Tohar Butbul, an Israeli, in the 2020 Summer Olympics. The IOC also stated that athletes are not to be held accountable for their government's actions.[36] However, Algerian judoka Messaoud Dris, who was previously reported to consider withdrawing,[37] was disqualified ahead of a match against Butbul in the −73 kg event, after his weight was measured to be 0.4 kg above the limit.[38] Jibril Rajoub, the president of the Palestine Olympic Committee, said he would refuse to engage with his Israeli counterpart Yael Arad, commenting: "The Palestinian athletes and I will follow the principles of the IOC. And if we feel that there is any violation from our side, we have to fight against it. The ball is in the other side's court." He further referenced Israeli judoka and flagbearer Peter Paltchik, accused of posting on his social media images of Israeli missiles captioned "From me to you with pleasure".[39]

Double standard accusations against the IOC

In November 2023, Russia accused the IOC of having double standards by not sanctioning Israel due to its military actions in Gaza, as Palestine is also an IOC member. The IOC's response to the comparisons to Russia was that the recommendations adopted on Russia and Belarus resulted from the violation of the Olympic Truce that was in force at the time, Russia's violation of the Olympic Charter following their annexation of four Ukrainian Olympic councils, and Russia's two previous violations in 2008 and 2014.[40][41] American academic and former professional soccer player Jules Boykoff described the double standards as "glaring" and questioned the IOC's treatment of Israel compared to Russia, stating that Israel's various settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights are in violation of the Olympic Charter the same way the Russian invasion of Ukraine is.[42][43] However, French president Emmanuel Macron defended the decision to include Israel, stating that "Israel responded to a terrorist attack" by Hamas, and that "this is not a war of aggression".[44]

During the Games

During the national anthem, Israel team has faced heckling in stadiums, and athletes have been escorted to events by a strong police presence, including riot police vans.[45] In the soccer game against Mali, Palestinian flags were displayed by a few spectators, with some parts of the crowd booing the Israelis and sporadic chants of "free Palestine" that drew attention from security, while outside the venue came choruses of "free the hostages".[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic day at Olympics: Israel wins gold, 2 silvers in windsurfing and gymnastics". Times of Israel. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b Picazo, Raul Daffunchio (24 February 2024). "French lawmakers call on Olympic committee to sanction Israel". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b "French lawmakers demand Olympic Committee sanction Israel". Middle East Monitor. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Israel's Olympic status not in question says IOC president Bach amid frustration with Russia". AP. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  5. ^ Ohnona, Yann (21 December 2023). "Yaël Arad, patronne du comité olympique israélien: "Nous serons à Paris à 100%" pour les JO" [Yael Arad, chairwoman of the Israeli Olympic committee: “We will be in Paris 100%” for the Olympics]. L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 17 February 2024.
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