Why are Israeli soldiers competing in Paris?

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In December 2023—three months into Israel’s war on Gaza—a trio of Israeli judokas scheduled to take part in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris visited the 402nd battalion in the Artillery Division of the Israel Defence Force (IDF).

Accompanied by the president of the Israeli Olympic Committee and other key officials within the national committee, the three Olympians—Inbar Lanir, Raz Hershko and Tina Nelson Lev—posed for pictures with some of the soldiers and commanders stationed along the Gaza border.

“I felt privileged to visit here, I saw what the fighters do and are doing,” Hershko, whose uncle is the head coach of Israel’s women’s national judo team, wrote on social media after the meeting. “So many people are an inspiration, especially in our time now.

“I always know I have somewhere to aspire but I didn’t realize how much the warriors inspired me.”

The pictures were later shared on the Israeli Olympic Committee’s social media channels.

The incident was one of countless examples of Israeli Olympians joining forces with one of the world’s most controversial armies—one that is currently responsible for the deaths of at least 38,000 Palestinians in Gaza. In some cases, the athletes are active soldiers themselves, while others moonlight as mascots for the IDF.

Amid the ongoing devastation in Gaza and the precedent set by IOC sanctions and restrictions on Russian athletes following the invasion of Ukraine (among other instances), the inclusion of Israeli athletes in the Paris Olympics raises significant questions about the consistent application of Olympic regulations. It also challenges whether athletes representing their country’s military can genuinely embody the Olympic spirit.

A week after winning an Olympic bronze medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021, Avishag Semberg returned to active duty at her military base in the Israeli Home Front Command, where she was welcomed by army chief of staff Aviv Kochavi.

“Avishag is the first female soldier in the IDF to win an Olympic medal,” the IDF wrote in a tweet which was accompanied by a video of the athlete visiting the army headquarters in Alon, an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

“The chief of staff expressed his appreciation for her impressive achievements at the Olympics and congratulated her on her victory. Avishag, the IDF is proud of you!”

Israel requires all citizens over the age of 18 who are Jewish, Druze or Circassian to serve in the IDF. Once enlisted, men are expected to serve for a minimum of 32 months and women are expected to serve for a minimum of 24 months.

Semberg, who was 19 years old at the time, became the first Israeli to win an Olympic taekwondo medal after claiming a bronze medal in the women’s 49kg category. She is also the youngest ever Israeli medallist.

During her meeting with the IDF chief of staff, Semberg thanked the army for its support, adding that there are “no words to describe how much they help me.”

Several months later, Semberg—still an active duty soldier at the time—was invited to speak at a series of fundraisers hosted by the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), an US-based organization that collects charitable donations on behalf of IDF soldiers across the country.

During the fundraising sessions, Semberg regaled audiences with tales of her Olympic achievements while other visiting soldiers spoke about the IDF’s “strong code of ethics” and its so-called commitment to protecting civilian populations.

Here is a short summary, provided by a Jewish paper present at the event:

As the primary institution that brings Israel’s diverse youth together, the IDF relies on the FIDF’s programs, like Project Overcome, which gives troubled youth the opportunity to serve in the IDF.

After dinner was served in the dockside party tent at the Cavalier, [Major General Nadav] Padan told the crowd that the overwhelming majority of Israeli political and business leaders served in special forces units. If kids who had encounters with the law or the need to get a job to help support their families can’t serve, they won’t be able to reach the highest levels of success. FIDF programs give those kids that opportunity.

Another speaker, Major Y. (whose name cannot be disclosed for security reasons) told the story of his last-minute wave-off of an Israeli strike on a Hamas missile emplacement this summer during Hamas’ horrific missile attack on Israel’s civilian population. Hamas had intentionally placed the missile launchers near a kindergarten. When Major Y. realized the proximity of the launchers to the innocent civilians, he called off the attack just in time. Despite the threat posed to the Israeli civilian population by the terrorists’ weapons, Yuval made the decision mandated to him by the IDF’s strong Code of Ethics—Ruach Tzahal (literally, “Spirit of the IDF”) —to call off the strike.

While Semberg’s mandatory conscription ended in November 2021, she remains involved in the IDF and the ongoing war through volunteer work such as providing meals to soldiers deployed to the frontlines. She will also represent Israel at the Paris Games.

Beyond Semberg, 87 other Israeli athletes are expected to represent their country at the upcoming Games. Many of these Olympians are also affiliated with the IDF or have shown outward support for the ongoing war and the soldiers involved.

In March 2024, the Israeli men’s judo national team visited the 102 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force at the Hatzerim Airbase in the Al-Naqab desert. According to Oren Smadga, the team’s head coach, the intention was to offer his athletes an opportunity for “exceptional mental preparation and social bonding” while creating “experiences of mutual learning and enrichment.”

“I can tell you that the best of the best are there and the state of Israel is in the most professional and good hands,” Smadga wrote on social media.

Smadga, along with several of the team’s most prominent Olympians, have also been supportive of Israel’s destruction of Gaza. Smadga regularly posts about the war on social media, including posts valourizing the IDF and spreading unsubstantiated stories about the events of October 7, including a claim that victims had the phrase “Muhammad was here” written on them in their own blood.

Peter Paltchik, a former European champion and Olympic bronze medalist competing in the under 100 kg weight category, previously signed his name on artillery shells aimed at civilians in Gaza. He posted a photo of the shells on social media, along with the caption “From me to you with pleasure.” The post has since been deleted.

Paltchik, who was announced as Israel’s flagbearerer for the Paris Games, was also involved in a confrontation with pro-Palestinian protestors in Tokyo, where the Israeli team was taking part in a training camp in March 2024. Paltchik was accompanied by Sagi Muki, a fellow Olympic judoka at Paris 2024 and a former Sergeant in the Israeli army who served in its vehicle division.

Muki, who is competing in Paris, has also been vocal in his support for the IDF. In an Instagram post in November 2023, the Olympic medalist celebrated the IDF flying the Israeli flag on a beach in Gaza.

“Salute your heroes,” read the caption.

On July 23, the Palestine Olympic Committee issued a formal letter to IOC President Thomas Bach calling for the “immediate exclusion of Israel” from the upcoming Games.

The letter cites the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that deemed Israel’s ongoing presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory unlawful, characterizing it as racial segregation and apartheid. Additionally, it mentions the Olympic Truce, a UN resolution calling for a peaceful environment for the Games from July 19 to September 15, 2024, which Israel immediately violated by continuing its assault on Gaza.

As of July 17, more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed amid Israel’s destruction of Gaza, while more than 2 millions others have been displaced from their homes. The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 70% of the dead are women and children and that at least 10,000 bodies are unaccounted for beneath the rubble in Gaza.

According to Palestinian sports officials, more than 343 athletes have been killed since October 7, including 241 football players (67 children and 174 adults), including Palestine’s first ever Olympian. Majed Abu Maraheel.

Israel’s assault on Gaza has also laid waste to the strip’s infrastructure, razing entire neighbourhoods and destroying agriculture, libraries, universities, and hospitals alike. All of the city’s football stadiums have been destroyed or partially damaged, while a total of 49 other sports facilities have suffered similar fates.

The POC letter also references the precedent set by the IOC in its handling of other violations of the Olympic charter, including the suspension of Russian teams in response to the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On 5 October 2023 – two days before the Hamas attacks that sparked the latest iteration of the Israel-Gaza war – the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee following Moscow’s decision to absorb sports organizations in four occupied territories in Ukraine. The IOC statement describes Russia’s actions as a “breach of the Olympic charter.”

The IOC also decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus who have military contracts. Interestingly, the IOC has supported the inclusion of Israeli athletes in the upcoming Paris Olympics, despite the fact that some participating athletes also serve asactive membersof the IDF. This, too, was noted by the Palestinian Olympic committee.

“It is also useful to invoke the standards set in the IOC decision of 25 January 2023 on reinstatement of the Russian and Belarusian individual athletes according to which being a part of the army or voicing support for war on social media is a ground for their non-inclusion”, concluded the letter.

Beyond the appeal from Palestinian sports officials, 26 French politicians sent a letter to the IOC in February, citing their condemnation of “the unprecedented war crimes committed by Israel” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and urging sanctions against Israel in the form of a ban on Israeli athletes competing under their flag and anthem.

On Tuesday evening, French president Emmanuel Macron declared on France 2 and Radio France that “Israeli athletes are welcome,” and “must be able to compete under their colours.”

“I’ve always said: It’s the International Olympic Committee that will decide, and we don’t play politics with the Games,” Macron added.

While Macron attempted to frame all of Israel’s Olympians as apolitical athletes detached from their government’s policies, some of their statements and actions paint an entirely different picture.

Among the 88 Israeli athletes participating in the Paris Olympics, at least 30 have publicly supported the war and the IDF. Some have served as propagandists and spokespeople for the IDF, further emphasizing their status as symbols of Israel’s hard power on the global stage.

“God bless our soldiers who are on all the fronts, all the security and rescue forces who are doing holy work,” Israel’s flagbearerer Peter Paltchik wrote in a recent social media post.

“Return safely.”

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