France investigates death threats against Israeli Olympic athletes
As demonstrators protest the Gaza war at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, French police are investigating death threats sent to three Israeli athletes.
PARIS — French police have opened an investigation into death threats sent to the private email addresses of at least three Israeli athletes participating in the Olympic Games before the opening of the event currently taking place in France.
The unknown senders warned the Israeli athletes that they would be attacked at the games just as 11 Israeli athletes were killed in 1972 in Munich by the Black September organization, a Palestinian militant group, reported The Guardian. The French public prosecutor confirmed to Al-Monitor that an investigation into “aggravated death threats" had been opened, saying that the inquiry is being managed by the police unit that handles hate speech online.
The news comes as Israeli officials have warned of a torrent of threats facing the Olympic team. On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz sent a letter to his French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne, warning of a planned Iranian or Iranian-backed attack on Israeli athletes and tourists at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Katz noted that information gathered by Israeli intelligence points to a threat posed by Iran and its proxies.
In his letter, Katz thanked Sejourne for what he called “unprecedented efforts" to protect Israeli athletes and for resisting efforts to see the Israeli delegation banned from the Olympics. French security sources told Al-Monitor that a considerable number of police officers, in uniform and out, are protecting the Israeli athletes in tight cooperation with Israeli security agencies, declining to say how many personnel have been deployed.
