2024-07-26 05:47:05
French President Emmanuel Macron has strongly condemned any actions that threaten Israeli athletes. In a new statement, Macron stressed that Israeli athletes are welcome in France and should be able to compete under their national flag, as the Olympic movement demands.
“Israeli athletes are welcome in our country,” Macron said. “They should be able to compete under their own flag because the Olympic movement has decided so. They will do so, and France has the responsibility to ensure their safety.”
Macron also expressed his strong disapproval of those who pose a threat to these athletes. “I condemn in the strongest possible terms those who endanger these athletes and, indirectly, threaten them,” he said.
Cursor previously reported that the National Security Council advised Israelis traveling to Paris for the Olympics to exercise heightened caution, warning that it believed global jihadist and Iran-backed terrorist organizations were “seeking to attack Israeli/Jewish targets during the Olympics.”
The Games officially begin on Friday – although football competitions begin tomorrow – and end on September 8 with the end of the Paralympic Games. “International events such as these represent a preferred target for threats and attacks by various terrorist groups due to the potential for widespread media exposure,” the council said in issuing travel advice.
The department also noted that French authorities arrested teenagers sympathetic to the Islamic State who were planning to commit terrorist attacks during the Olympics.