PARIS : Israeli swimmers at the Paris Olympics said on Monday they felt safe and able to focus on sport despite tight security around them.
The Israelis are being protected around the clock by crack French security agents and officers brought in by the team itself.
“We have a lot of security and I feel safe and the atmosphere is crazy, it’s great,” said women’s 100 metres backstroke swimmer Aviv Barzelay after her heat at the La Defense Arena.
The Paris’ prosecutors office said on Sunday police were investigating death threats received by three Israeli athletes, while last week Israel’s foreign minister warned of a potential Iranian-backed plot to target Israeli athletes and tourists.
At the 1972 Munich Olympics 11 Israelis were killed by Palestinian militants in an attack on the Olympic village.
“We have pretty tough security so I’m really thankful for their job and what they are doing for us, that they are here and making a safe environment for us,” said Anastasia Gorbenko after her 400 metres individual medley swim.
“I would love the sport to be only about swimming and nothing about political stuff and about the country situation,” added Gorbenko, whose parents were born in Ukraine.
“Palestinians, Israelis, Arabs, Muslims, Jewish, it doesn’t matter. We are all here to do sports, that’s what’s special about the Games.”
The Olympics are taking place during the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities, after some 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage in Hamas-led attack in southern Israel last October.
One far-left French lawmaker has said Israel’s Olympic delegation was not welcome and called for protests.
“I’m trying to put all of the bad things behind me, not focus on it now,” said Barzelay, who added that she was able to go through her routines as normal.
“They (security) try to stay away as (much as) possible … they are obviously with us all the time but they give us the space we need to prepare ourselves.”
“We’re all going around the village, we’ve seen other athletes,” she said.
“We communicate with everyone and we try to be nice because we’re good at being nice. I think we’re very friendly and we’re not here to make anyone hate us. We’re just here to be ourselves and have fun.”
