A leading French Jewish group on Sunday criticised a hard-left lawmaker for saying Israeli athletes would not be welcome at the Paris Olympics next week because of the war in Gaza. It described the MP’s comments as “irresponsible”.
Yonathan Arfi, head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, said on XTV that France Unbowed (LFI) MP Thomas Portes is “putting a target on the backs of Israeli athletes.”
Portes said at a rally in support of the Palestinians that “the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Paris Olympic Games” and called for “organisation” of the event.
He later told a Parisian newspaper that “French diplomats should put pressure on the International Olympic Committee to ban the Israeli flag and anthem, as has been done in the case of Russia.”
“It’s time to end the double standard,” Portes said.
Opposition to Israeli operations in Gaza was a key plank of LFI’s campaign ahead of last month’s European elections.
The region’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Sunday that nearly 39,000 people have been killed in the fighting, which began with bloody attacks by Hamas on October 7.
Ambiguity over the LFI’s response to the October massacre led to the collapse of a coalition of left-wing parties that reluctantly reconvened for this month’s parliamentary elections but, despite coming in first place, has so far struggled to build a consensus.
Crieff chief Arfi said Israeli athletes were “already the most at risk at the Olympic Games”, recalling the 11 athletes “killed by Palestinian terrorists” at the 1972 Munich Games.
Besides the Jewish group, Porteous also faced attacks from his nominal parliamentary allies the Socialist Party and the Conservatives.
“Of course, Israeli athletes are welcome, just like all sportsmen from around the world. Not because of who they are, but because of what they do,” posted Socialist MP Jerome Guedj.
Some LFI MPs came out in support of Portes.
“The Israeli flag stained with the blood of innocent Gaza people must not be flown in Paris this summer,” MP Emeric Caron wrote.
Israel’s football team will play its first Olympic match against Mali at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office said on Sunday that he would attend a boat parade on the Seine River on Friday and a ceremony commemorating Israelis killed in Munich in 1972.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
