It’s not been a vintage performance by Israel’s team at the London Olympics. Disappointing for sure but perhaps not entirely surprising. What is surprising, however, is The Guardian‘s need to highlight this in a dedicated Olympic story by Harriet Sherwood.
After all, why is Israel’s Olympic performance any more interesting than Turkey or Argentina’s (both countries currently in possession of one bronze medal each)?
Still, perhaps it is a positive sign that Sherwood is prepared to report from beyond the conflict.
What did stick out though is Sherwood’s description of non-sporting Olympic issues that Israel has focused on, including:
the row over the BBC’s description of Jerusalem as the “seat of government” (almost the entire international community does not recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital).
Funny, considering that The Guardian was also embroiled in a row only a few months ago when it went further than the BBC in describing Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital.
© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
