The Israeli delegation to the Paris summer Olympic Games in 2024 is scheduled to be the largest ever with the highest aspirations for achieving results. More than 200 delegation members including the Olympic soccer team. But, what on paper would appear to be a genuine sporting celebration has in recent days turned into a nightmare for those responsible for its security, raising serious questions as to how the Israeli team will participate in the games, and of course what will be the fate of those Israeli fans who have already purchased tickets.
Problem No. 1: The location
In France today there are six million Muslims. The largest Muslim center in France is located in Paris, and already over the last week we have witnessed just how the Muslims have taken to the streets to demonstrate against Israel, and the local police used all its available force to deal with them.
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Having said that, the serious Muslim threat in France is a genuine source of concern for the heads of the Israeli security services, who are afraid of a similar horror scenario to that of Munich 1972. France is a pro-Muslim country, although public opinion in France is gradually shifting towards Israel; though the thought of the Israeli flag flying above the Champs-Élysées is still a somewhat problematic issue when we think about the fast-approaching July 2024 games. France is currently considered to be a less safe environment for Jews, not to mention Israelis. And that's before we have even dared to speak about the largest and most complex sporting event in the world.
Problem No. 2: The large delegation
The Israeli delegation is due to comprise more than 200 members (competitors and accompanying staff) who will be spread across Paris each day (the soccer team is a problem in itself that we shall address in the next section), dozens of Israelis in numerous different competitions, to be accompanied by fans coming from Israel.
In contrast to regular soccer teams or delegations of smaller sports, the delegation to the Olympic Games is afforded much heavier security, in view of Israel's painful history at the Olympic Games. For Israel's Security Agency, better known as Shin Bet, which will be working in conjunction with the local law enforcement forces, this is a highly complex challenge. Even if the athletes only leave for the competitions and then return immediately to the Olympic Village, they will still face a multitude of threats, and it is quite conceivable that the sportsmen and sportswomen will arrive in Paris for their specific competitions and then return immediately to Israel, thus avoiding any superfluous mingling.
Video: Shoes of the kidnapped Israelis on display / Dor Malul
To this, we need to add the issue of Marseilles, a city that is scheduled to host the water-sports competitions, and there the security question is a completely different ballgame to that of the official delegation, as the athletes competing in the various water-sports will be staying at a different location and are not part of the sizable Olympic Village. Marseilles, as we shall see in the next section, is an extremely problematic city in itself from a security point of view.
Problem No. 3: The Olympic soccer team
The qualification of Israel's Olympic soccer team has created a completely new kind of headache. The main problem is that we still do not know where the team will play as the draw for the games is yet to be held. Theoretically, it could be playing its games in Marseilles in the south of France. There are about a quarter of a million Muslims living in the second-largest city in France, and the local Jewish community numbers some 80 thousand people. The arrival of the Israeli soccer team in Marseilles, for example, could easily spark full-scale rioting. The hope is that at least here, the Olympic Committee will take action and ensure that the Israelis play in other cities, preferably Paris from a security point of view.
An additional issue that needs to be taken into consideration – the soccer tournament commences earlier, and thus, in effect, it turns the soccer delegation into an additional contingent within the larger delegation, requiring its own, tailor-made security arrangements. It is also worth remembering that Israel's senior national soccer team currently has a good chance of making history by qualifying for the EUFA Euro 2024 finals to be held in Germany this coming June, and the combination of both national teams almost in parallel in Europe, will create the sort of headache that nobody in the security services has ever come across in the past.
Problem No. 4: Thomas Bach
Thomas Bach, a German national and the current president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), refuses to condemn Hamas. In contrast to his uncompromising war against the Russians and his support for the Ukrainians, Bach remains silent when it comes to Israel. It is important to understand that previously Bach was the head of the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce.
According to reports, when he was elected to his current position in 2013, it was the large Arab lobby on the IOC that helped him gain the much sought-after position: among others, the representatives of Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan were among those who voted for him, after he had been heavily engaged in commercial ties with those countries. Bach is trying hard to retain his position for another four years, but he knows that his opponents on the IOC are most likely to prevent this. At the age of 69, maintaining his ties with the Arab world, which was a key preoccupation for him until a decade ago, is of great importance.
Bach's deafening silence has led to more and more Olympic athletes uploading posts against Israel with acerbic vitriol (an Italian judoka even compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler), which are then not met with any appropriate response. It is quite scary to even think of what gestures the Arab athletes are planning for Hamas and the Palestinians at the upcoming Olympic Games, if Bach fails to state in advance that this is opposed to the Olympic spirit, precisely as he did during the war between Russia and Ukraine.
