When members of Israel’s bobsled team returned to their apartment in Italy and discovered passports and equipment gone, they did not stop training. They did what Israelis have been forced to do around the Olympics for more than half a century. They absorbed the blow and carried on. The question is why they keep having to.
In 1972, Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes and coaches in Munich after slipping into the Olympic Village with ease. That carnage exposed a security culture that treated the Games as a peace festival first and a high-value target second. The legacy since then has been a series of promises, commissions, and “lessons learned” papers that always insist things will be different next time. Then we had the 1996 bombing in Atlanta.
While training for the Olympics the @israelbobsled apartment was broken into during their training, thousands of dollars of stuff and passports were stolen. What a season... pic.twitter.com/6Y9cDPofbC
— AJ Edelman, OLY (@realajedelman) February 7, 2026
And here we are in 2026 at Milan Cortina, and an Israeli team is again reminded that the Olympic world still cannot deliver on the basics. This was not a terror attack; it was a burglary. But the pattern is familiar. Criminals saw an opening and took it. They knew athletes are focused on training, away from home, dependent on others for protection. Once again, the officials were a step behind.
I have to say, the @israelbobsled Team is just such a fine example of how we push forward in difficult circumstances. Such a gross violation--suitcases, shoes, equipment, passports stolen, and the boys headed right back to training today. I really believe this team exemplifies… https://t.co/ctjwEXLk9r pic.twitter.com/YLI5VmlRau
— AJ Edelman, OLY (@realajedelman) February 7, 2026
VP Vance Speaking to U.S. Team in Milan, Reminds Them of What's Truly Important at Winter Olympics
The theft is not just an inconvenience. Passports and specialized bobsled gear are not easily replaced, especially days before a global event. These are elite competitors who already operate on thin margins. An apartment that should have been secure became a soft spot in the chain.
🚨Israel's Bobsled Captain @realajedelman speaks out after his team's apartment was robbed of their passports and thousands of dollars worth of equipment while they were out training for the Winter Olympics. @BillHemmer l @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/kTeTItrObk
— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) February 9, 2026
It is not as if the United States and other Western nations do not understand these vulnerabilities. American authorities have spent decades studying Olympic security, from Munich to Atlanta to Salt Lake City. After the Atlanta bombing in 1996 and extensive post-mortems in Congress, U.S. officials admitted that fragmented command structures and turf battles left gaps that terrorists could exploit. Even with better coordination, testimony for later Games acknowledged that our system still struggles to balance civil liberties, local control, and real-time threat response.
The same tension exists in Europe today. Preparations for Milan Cortina were unfolding amid rising geopolitical strains and open threats against Americans and Israeli targets. Security experts are already warning about cyber and physical risks tied to the Winter Games. Yet an Israeli team can be robbed in its lodging with apparent ease. If minor criminals can probe the system, serious actors are watching and taking notes.
There is also a moral dimension that the Olympic movement and host governments prefer to downplay. Israeli athletes do not arrive at these events as just one delegation among many. They travel with the memory of Munich and decades of targeted threats. When their rooms are violated and their documents stolen, it lands differently than a random theft from a typical tourist.
Americans also, of course, remember the Atlanta Olympic bombing committed by Eric Robert Rudolph.
#OTD in 2003, a local police officer in Murphy, NC arrested wanted bomber Eric Robert Rudolph, ending a massive five-year manhunt by the #FBI and law enforcement authorities. https://t.co/zkeSKDXLbE pic.twitter.com/QVBU0llo0c
— FBI Detroit (@FBIDetroit) May 31, 2024
Unfortunately, the Atlanta Olympic security failed there by accusing Richard Jewell of the bombing, which made his life a living hell.
Richard Jewell, who saved hundreds of lives in Atlanta Olympic bombing 1996, had his entire life ruined by media accusations. #FunFact pic.twitter.com/NqEgPVjbXy
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) November 24, 2022
Back in present-day Milan, to their credit, Adam Edelman and his teammates responded by returning to training, framing their reaction as an example of “Israeli spirit” and refusing to let the incident define their Games. That resilience is admirable. It should not be necessary.
There are two clear takeaways from this incident:
First, security is not a public relations exercise. It is a hard responsibility that demands clear lines of authority, serious investment, and a willingness to act before something goes wrong. We have seen what happens when that work is delayed or delegated to committees.
Second, allies like Israel deserve more than speeches about solidarity. They deserve environments where their and our athletes are protected as a matter of principle and priority, not treated as just another line item in a security budget.
Also, it's worth noting that we will have the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. With ANTIFA and the unhinged left, security must be at a high level. We must make sure that the Los Angeles Olympics will be the safest.
Law enforcement in Los Angeles is not just struggling, it’s in crisis right now.
— Cece Woods (@cecewoodsmedia) February 7, 2026
LASD and LAPD are desperately begging for outside agency help as staffing collapses and morale plummets. With the 2028 Olympics just around the corner, we’re facing catastrophe public safety… pic.twitter.com/Ps5XnsoGys
The Israeli bobsled team did its job. It showed up, trained, and kept going after being robbed. Now it is time for Olympic organizers, host nations, and yes, American partners who know better, to do theirs.
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