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‘It’s a Welcome Distraction’: Israel Concludes Historic Run at Olympics Despite Facing Pressure, Threats, War
Paris 2024 Olympics – Ceremonies – Paris 2024 Closing Ceremony – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 11, 2024. Athletes of Israel take part in the closing ceremony. Photo: REUTERS/Albert Gea
Israel on Sunday completed its most successful performance in the Olympic Games in the history of the country, taking home a record-breaking seven medals while its delegation faced obstacles including death threats, security concerns, and pressure for them to be banned from the Olympics because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Israeli athletes won one gold medal in addition to five silver and a bronze at the Paris Games. Their last medal win took place on Saturday, when Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team earned silver in the women’s rhythmic all-round group finals with a score of 68.850 points. They only trailed China, which won gold with a score of 69.800. The Israeli team consisted of five women: Shani Bakanov, 18, Adar Friedmann, 18, Romi Paritzki, 20, Ofir Shaham, 19, and Diana Svertsov, 19. The bronze medal went to Italy.
Israel reached the rhythmic team finals in the 2008, 2016, and 2020 Olympics, but Saturday’s win was Israel’s first Olympic medal in the team category.
Before arriving in Paris, Israel had a total of 13 Olympic medals in its history, but after the 2024 Olympic Games the country now has 20 — which include nine in judo and four in gymnastics.
“We’ve never been prouder,” read a post on Sunday that was published on the state of Israel’s official X/Twitter account. “Thank you Team Israel. Am Yisrael Chai.”
One of the proudest moments at the 2024 Olympic Games was when Tom Reuveny won a gold medal in the men’s windsurfing event, resulting in Israel’s national anthem “Hatikvah” playing on the speakers on the shores of Marseilles for the first during the Olympics this year. Reuveny carried Israel’s flag with Paritzki in the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
Israel’s other Olympic winners this year included Sharon Kantor, who became the first Israeli woman to win a sailing medal when she took silver; judoka Raz Hershko, who won silver in the women’s over 78-kg category; fellow judoka Peter Paltchik and his bronze medal win in the men’s under 100-kg category; judoka Inbar Lanir, who won silver in the women’s under 78-kg category; and artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, a silver medal winner in the men’s floor exercise. Dolgopyat won a gold in the Tokyo Olympics in the same category and is now Israel’s most decorated Olympian.
While there were heightened concerns before the Olympics started about the safety and security of the Israeli Olympic delegation during their time in Paris, the Games were relatively quiet with increased security personnel provided by Israel’s Shin Ben and also French police.
Anti-Israel posters and signs were seen at soccer matches, and some audience members booed during events that involved Israeli athletes. Palestinian flags were also waved as Israeli athletes competed, and two Israeli judokas were snubbed by their opponents in two different categories, one of which is being investigated by the International Judo Federation.
Meanwhile, Patlchik was criticized for supporting the Israel Defense Forces in its war against Hamas terrorists and Yael Arad, president of the Israeli National Olympic Committee, said some team members faced “centralized” threats aimed at stirring “psychological terror” in the athletes during the Olympic Games. There were also repeated efforts to have Israel banned from the Olympics.
Despite such obstacles and backlash because of the Israel-Hamas war, Team Israel prevailed and made history at the Olympics. They saw support from fans that even shocked the athletes themselves.
“We have so much support, which is shocking to me because we were obviously prepared for people to not be supportive,” Israeli equestrian Ashlee Bond told AFP. “The fact that we had so much support brought tears to my eyes.”
David Wiseman is the co-founder of Follow Team Israel, a page on Facebook and Instagram that shares stories about Israeli sports and athletes around the world. He spoke with The Algemeiner about Israel’s historic performance in the Olympic Games in Paris and how the counry’s Olympic delegation has grown over the years.
“It’s amazing that the Israeli team has been able to perform so well on the biggest stage with so many pressures that other athletes don’t have to deal with,” he said. “Israeli sport is getting better and better and better. Twelve years ago, the [Israeli Olympic] team was 37 athletes and didn’t win a medal. Now we’re 88 athletes (inflated by the soccer team of 18) and thus far have won seven. And these seven medals mean so much to the nation in a time when we’re dealing with so much. They are a welcome distraction and put a spring in everyone’s steps.”
“The reality is that just to get to the Olympics, the Israeli athletes have to be of a fantastic standard and then it comes down to being able to do it on the day,” he added. “After the Olympics, there’s a little bit of buzz for the athletes but then fans and media move on to basketball and football and no one cares much for sailing, judo and gymnastics, etc. That’s why we created the page — to share the amazing stories of our athletes all the time, regardless of the sport they play. The fans learn about the athletes and become more appreciative of them. I hope that following these historic Games, the powers that be will realize the significance and importance of sport and put even more resources into it. Our athletes deserve it.”
Gilad Lustig, the secretary general of Israel’s Olympic committee, believes there is symbolism with Israel winning seven medals at the Olympics when viewed in conjunction with Oct. 7, the date of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel that started the ongoing war in Gaza.
“It’s the most important closing of the circle, after what they tried to do to us on Oct. 7,” he told Haaretz. “We are here, on the map.”
“This is our victory over what happened on Oct. 7,” Lustig added. “From the bottom of our hearts, from every team of ours, from all the people that accompanied this. The feeling of our mission is much greater, and we can seal it with the story of the seven medals. There is nothing more symbolic than that.”
Israel will give a total of NIS 5 million ($1.3 million), tax-free, to its Olympic medalists and NIS 2.5 million ($662,449) to the coaches of the winners, according to The Times of Israel. NIS 1 million will be given to its gold medalist; NIS 700,000 to each silver medalists, and NIS 500,000 to its bronze medalist.
Besides medals, athletes part of Team Israel made other achievements as well in the Paris Olympic. Lonah Chemtai Salpeter — a 35-year-old native of Kenya who is an Israeli citizen — finished in ninth place in the women’s marathon, which is the top placement for Israel in any Olympic marathon. Cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev, 23, held a new Olympic record in the men’s sprint during the qualifying race, but only for less than a minute before it was quickly overtaken by two of his competitors.
Israel’s artistic swimmers Shelly Bobritsky and Ariel Nassee finished 11th in the duet but the placement is Israel’s best Olympic finish in the category. The Israeli swim team that competed in the men’s 4×200 meter freestyle relay set a new record for Israel, and in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke, Ron Polonsky broke an Israeli record that he previously set.
Jewish athletes competing for other countries also won big at the Olympics this year.
American-Israeli wrestler Amit Elor, 20, won the gold medal in the women’s freestyle wrestling 68-kg finals. The Team USA athlete became the youngest American wrestler to win an Olympic gold in the history of the US, and the third woman from the US to win Olympic gold in wrestling. Team USA Jewish athletes Jackie Dubrovich and Maia Weintraub won gold as part of the women’s foil team, and American swimmer Claire Weinstein won her first Olympic medal this year — a silver in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Sarah Levy won bronze as part of the US women’s rugby sevens team and American fencer Nick Itkin also took bronze in the men’s individual foil competition.
Jessica Fox won two gold medals in Paris for Team Australia, making her the most decorated canoe shalom competitor in the history of the Olympics. When her younger sister Naomi, 27, won gold in the first ever canoe slalom women’s kayak cross at the 2024 Olympic Games, they reportedly became the first Jewish siblings to both win gold at the same Olympics since 1964.
The post ‘It’s a Welcome Distraction’: Israel Concludes Historic Run at Olympics Despite Facing Pressure, Threats, War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
The post New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events

A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
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