French authorities thwarted three terrorist attacks, including against Israeli targets, at the Paris Olympics this summer, the national counterterrorism prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Terrorists planned to attack “Israeli institutions or representatives of Israel in Paris” during the competition, which took place in the French capital and other cities from July 26 to Aug. 11, Olivier Christen said, adding that “the Israeli team itself was not specifically targeted.”
Five people, including a minor, were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the three thwarted attacks.
France was on high alert during the Games, which took place against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war and a related increase in hostility to the Jewish state and Jews in Europe. Israeli athletes received threats ahead of the competition.
The Paris 2024 organizing committee said before the event that 30,000 police and gendarmes would be deployed, reinforced by roughly 20,000 soldiers and between 17,000 and 22,000 private security agents expected for the Olympic sites and fan zones.
The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) also took part in the largest-ever security operation of its kind to safeguard Israeli athletes taking part in the Games.
