Israeli president to attend opening of Paris Olympic Games, visit Italy and France
Israeli President Isaac Herzog will be attending the opening of the Paris Olympic Games next week, the Jerusalem Post has reported, despite calls to ban Israel from the Games.
Herzog is expected to travel alongside Sport and Culture Minister Miki Zohar and meet Israel’s Olympic team, the newspaper reported.
The president is also scheduled to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron in their respective countries.
French lawmaker says Israelis ‘not welcome’ at Olympics
A French member of parliament has sparked a political row by saying Israeli athletes were not welcome at the Paris Olympics because of the Israeli war on Gaza.
France Unbowed (LFI) lawmaker Thomas Portes was “putting a target on the backs of Israeli athletes”, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told broadcaster France 2, echoing criticisms made by a major Jewish group earlier Sunday.
Portes had said at a rally in support of Palestinians that “the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli sportspeople are not welcome at the Paris Olympic Games” and called for “mobilisation” around the event.
He later told the Parisien newspaper that “France’s diplomats should pressure the International Olympic Committee to bar the Israeli flag and anthem, as is done for Russia”.
“It’s time to end the double standard,” Portes added.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a limited number of Russian athletes will be allowed to compete in Paris as individuals and not under their country’s colours, and only after being vetted to ensure they have not expressed support for the war.
Lebanese photojournalist wounded in Israeli strike carries Olympic torch
A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli strike on south Lebanon has carried the Olympic torch in Paris to honour journalists wounded and killed in the field.
The torch relay is part of celebrations in which about 10,000 people from various walks of life were chosen to carry the flame across France before the Games opening ceremony on July 26.
Christina Assi, of Agence France-Presse, was among six journalists struck by Israeli shelling on October 13 while reporting on the conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli military. She was severely wounded and had part of her right leg amputated.
AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera accused Israel of targeting their journalists who maintained they were positioned far from where the clashes with vehicles clearly marked as press.
International human rights organisations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the attack was a deliberate one on civilians and should be investigated as a war crime.
AFP’s Christina Assi arrives for the Olympic torch relay at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in Vincennes, outside Paris, France. Assi was struck by an Israeli tank shell on October 13 while reporting in southern Lebanon
