Israeli intelligence officials have reason to believe that Iran “and other terrorist groups” are working to attack Israeli athletes and visitors at the Paris Olympics, according to Israel’s top diplomat.
“We continue to receive intelligence about the potential threat from Iranian operatives and other terrorist groups planning to target Israeli delegation members and tourists during the Olympics,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote Thursday in a letter to French officials. “This underscores the critical importance of our joint commitment to ensuring the safety and security of all participants.”
Israel’s delegation to the Olympics arrived in Paris to find a security environment fraught with acrimony stemming from the war in Gaza and haunted by the memory of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Games. Those anxieties were underscored in recent days by a barrage of ominous phone calls and emails to Israeli athletes — messages that Israeli officials blamed on Iran.
“Iran is exploiting an apolitical international sporting competition to promote digital terrorism against Israel and its right to participate in these competitions,” Israel’s National Cyber Directorate chief, Gaby Portnoy, said on Thursday.
Iranian officials managed to acquire contact information for the athletes and publish it on social media, Portnoy’s agency said. The athletes received a message that purported to be from the “People’s Defense Organization,” reportedly a “fictitious” group that promised “to repeat the events of Munich 1972” if Israeli athletes participated in the Olympics.
“Once again we are exposed to the attempts of the head of the Iranian snake to threaten Israeli athletes and use psychological terror against our wonderful delegation,” Israeli Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar said Thursday. “The athletes are ready and more determined than ever to achieve success.”
The lead-up to the Paris Olympics has been marked by a flurry of arrests. On Sunday, French officials arrested a Russian-born chef on the grounds that he was plotting a “large-scale project” to disrupt the games. French Foreign Minister Gerald Darmanin also suggested that a video that seems to depict a Palestinian terrorist forecasting “rivers of blood” would flow at the Olympics was faked.
“We saw a video which purports to be someone from Hamas … who announces an attack in the next few days and comes because France is going to welcome Israeli athletes,” Darmanin said. “We’re not sure, but it looks like it is fake and has been spread by pro-Kremlin and pro-Russian channels.”
Belgian authorities also arrested seven people “suspected of participation in a terrorist group’s activities, financing of terrorism and preparation of a terrorist attack” on Thursday, according to Belgian authorities, with the caveat that the group might not have been planning to attack the Olympics.
“[There are] no details at this time as to the locations or targets but what was found leads us to believe an attack was being prepared,” Belgian government spokesman Arnaud d’Oultremont said on Thursday.
French officials have given the Israeli athletes round-the-clock security. Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency also has deployed security teams to protect the athletes in the Olympic Village and throughout the competitions.
“We try our best to make sure the athletes feel free but also safe and not afraid,” Zohar said last week. “We don’t want them to notice the security guards too much. We want them to feel confident so they can do their job.”
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Darmanin also ordered French law enforcement to establish an “antiterrorism perimeter” around the stadium where Israel’s soccer team played Mali to a draw on Wednesday.
“I want to convey my profound gratitude for the extraordinary security measures the French government has implemented to safeguard the Israeli delegation and tourists,” Katz, the Israeli foreign minister, wrote in the Thursday letter to his counterpart. “This stands as a clear testament to President Macron and the French government’s resolve to confront those hostile elements seeking to undermine the legitimacy of Israel’s Olympic participation.”
