Israel’s Olympic delegation departed for Paris on Monday, according to AFP journalists, with the team of 88 athletes participating in a competition marked by controversy over the ongoing war in Gaza.
Ahead of their departure, demonstrators, activists and a hard-left member of the French parliament had urged Israel’s team to stay away.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said on Monday the Israeli athletes were “welcome in France”.
“Our first victory is that we are here and going (to the Olympics) and that we didn’t give up and have been competing in hundreds of competitions since October 7,” Israel Olympic Committee president Yael Arad told journalists at Ben Gurion airport, referring to the date of the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel that launched the war.
French organisers have stepped up security in Paris where the Israeli delegation will be subject to strict security protocols in the wake of global tensions caused by the war in Gaza.