AS I SEE IT COLUMN: Israel’s sigh of relief after IOC lets Russia back into the Olympics

After several years of being banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from competing at the Olympics because of its war in Ukraine, the IOC has now officially opened the door for Russia to once again compete at the Olympics.

If Russian athletes and sports fans are the happiest people hearing that news, the second happiest would have to be the state of Israel.

There had been some momentum for getting Israel banned from the Olympics for its genocide in Gaza, but if the IOC is readmitting Russia to the Olympic movement, it almost certainly won’t have the stomach – nor the integrity – to ban Israel.

After 100,000 pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the final stage of a big cycling event in Spain in 2025 their Prime Minister – Pedro Sánchez – called on the international sporting community to ban Israel from all sports competitions.

“The sports organizations should consider whether it’s ethical for Israel to keep participating in international competitions. Why expel Russia after the invasion of Ukraine and not expel Israel after the invasion of Gaza?” Sánchez said. “Until the barbarity ends, neither Russia nor Israel should be in any international competition.”

The growing calls for Israel to be expelled from international sport have nothing to do with Jews, their faith or their culture. It has everything to do with a toxic, genocide-friendly Zionist movement that controls the Israeli government and is trying to eradicate Palestinians from the Middle East.

Tragically, Israel lost 1,200 people on October 7, 2023. So far, in their grotesquely disproportionate response, Israel has killed over 75,000 Palestinians, including 20,000 children.

To be clear, the growing desire to ban Israel from international sports is not now and never has been antisemitic. Being against the slaughter of children isn’t antisemitic; it’s pro-life, basic human decency. If Sweden or Australia or Belgium were ethnically cleansing their neighbours, the world would be just as outraged.

Furthermore, there is no universe where that kind of lopsided death toll can be rationalized as “self defense.” When there are 75,000 deaths on one side of a conflict and only 1,200 deaths on the other side, even a child in grade 3 would understand how immoral that conflict is.

After the Holocaust, if there ever was a society that should be sensitive to a genocide and ethnic cleansing, one would think it would be the people of Israel. Sadly, that’s not the case; the oppressed have become the oppressors.

Recall that Peter Paltchick, the Israeli judoka and co-flag-bearer at the 2024 Paris Olympics, signed bombs destined to be dropped on innocent Palestinians with the slogan “From me to you with pleasure.”

Deriving joy from the deaths of innocent people is sick, pure, unvarnished evil. It’s ghastly.

Israel allowing Paltchick to be one of its flag bearers revealed to the entire world the depth of Israel’s burning hatred for Palestinians.

In addition to carpet bombing large swaths of Gaza, Israel’s inhumane blockade of food and medicine has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, resulting in a near total collapse of medical, water and sanitation systems, and where 90% of the population of Gaza has been displaced.

As the world learns more about the lopsided death tolls and eventually sees pictures of the utter devastation that the Israeli army doesn’t want the outside world to see, there will undoubtedly be more voices rightly calling for Israel – which is now basically an isolated pariah state in the global community – to be banned from international sports.

The IOC’s decision on Russia will have a definite impact on Canadians. The winter Olympic ice hockey tournament will now be even tougher to win than it already is. Alex Ovechkin wants to win a gold medal for Russia before he retires and now he’ll get his chance.

And if the IIHF follows the IOC and allows Russia to compete in the World Junior and Senior hockey tournaments – which it almost certainly will – winning those titles will also become much more difficult for Canada.