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EXCLUSIVE: Israeli national team gymnasts Lihie Raz and Eyal Indig found out all their work training for world championships would go to waste just days after their country’s historic peace deal to end the war in Gaza.
They had just experienced the joy of seeing the last remaining live hostages returned home.
“We started off the week with one of the happiest moments of the last two years, with seeing the live hostages coming back home, finally being able to half-breathe it out knowing their back home with us,” Indig told Fox News Digital.
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Then came a shocking news report.
“It seemed like, out of nowhere,” said Raz, a Paris Olympian for Israel.
Lihie Raz from Team Israel trains on the vault during a Gymnastics training session ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics Games on July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)
They first learned from a news article that the Indonesian government was blocking their visas to enter the country for the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics championships in Jakarta.
Raz and Indig allege they were told their visas were being denied due to safety concerns by the Indonesian government.
“The formal reason given by the Indonesian government was that us participating would endanger us, and the other national delegations,” Indig said.
But Indig claims the team’s own security team had given them clearance to enter the city, after an inspection beforehand.
Indig cited decades-long security measures the country’s sports teams have used since the 1972 Munich Olympics, when eight terrorists associated with the group Black September — an affiliate of the Palestine Liberation Organization — snuck into the Olympic Village in a failed mission to take the athletes hostage. The mission resulted in the deaths of six Israeli coaches, five athletes, one West German policeman and five of the terrorists.
“For us, it was very strange,” Indig said. “That same security did a scan one week before our flight, in Indonesia, they were in Indonesia, and they authorized everything in terms of security. So we had full authorization from Israel security’s team, and you can believe me that they wouldn’t authorize anything that wasn’t safe. And our federation kept telling us it was safe.”
Indig later called Indonesia’s decision, “a blatant incident of discrimination on the basis of nationality.”
When asked if he believed the recent ceasefire with Hamas would result in fewer incidents of internation sports exclusion of Israelis, in what has been a growing trend, Indig said. “I certainly hope so. But one thing I can say is that this incident has nothing to do with the ceasefire. It’s a blatant incident of discrimination on the basis of nationality.”
Both Indig, Raz and their teammates have traveled for competitions to other Muslim-majority nations, including Azerbaijan, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, and haven’t had any problems.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Indonesian embassy in the U.S., the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the press bureau of the country’s president, Prabowo Subianto, for a response.
Indonesian Minister of Sport Erick Thohir defended his country’s decision in a statement in the final week of October.
“We adhere to the principle of maintaining security, public order and the public interest in hosting every international event,” he said.
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The Israel Gymnastics Federation filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in attempt to force the International Gymnastic Federation (FIG) to guarantee Israel’s participation, or alternatively, cancel or move the event to a new location.
Indig and Raz claim they were holding out hope they and their teammates would simply be allowed to enter the country for the competition on time.
So they never stopped training.
“It was really hard,” Raz said of her training in the uncertain few days.
“You’ve already been told that you’re not going, but they said they’re still working on it, but the chances are low. But I knew that for, even in the smallest chance that we were still going to compete, I wanted to stay in the best shape. So, after all these problems, I could still go out there, and still show off my best performance.”
They claim they initially found out about the news on a Friday, with their flight scheduled to leave the following Monday. Amid the uncertainty, the team pushed its flight back a day from Monday to Tuesday, waiting to see if the appeal would be accepted. So they spent that extra Monday doing more training.
Then Tuesday came, and their flight was delayed again, due to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and they kept on training.
But late that Tuesday night, on Oct. 14, the CAS declined the country’s appeal. Their world championship hopes were over.
“After the CAS decision there was nothing left to do, so we finally put the gloves down,” Indig said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) promptly put out a statement later that week condemning Indonesia’s treatment of the team. The IOC later put out a statement advising against scheduling any other major sports competitions in Indonesia by world governing bodies, and even cut off all talk with the country for future Olympic hosting rights.
But the world governing body for gymnastics’ leadership was more empathetic to Indonesia.
FIG President Morinari Watanabe and Secretary General Nicolas Buompane defended the Indonesian government’s reasoning of safety concerns as global controversy on the situation grew, at a press conference on Oct. 18.
“We were disappointed and frustrated, because for us, sports is a place that is free of politics,” Raz said. “Were disappointed that they put us in this situation, they didn’t have our backs,” she added of FIG’s response.
Still, Raz and Indig watched the competitions in Indonesia that week, as loyal gymnastics fans would.
Raz said it made the situation even harder.
“Seeing the competition, it was hard, it was hard because we saw the competition because we so much wanted to be there, and wanted to compete,” she said.
Indig found solace in rooting for Team USA’s Donnell Whittenburg, who became the first American to win gold in men’s rings at the event after suffering an injury last year.
“I broke both of my elbows during a freak accident a year and a half ago, and I underwent two operations in order to try to return to gymnastics,” he said. “So for me, watching Donnell Whittenburg who tore his achilles just a year ago … was amazing to watch.”
Indig also said he received private support from other competitors who were at the event.
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Still, both Raz and Indig wonder if the podium results would have turned out differently if their team was allowed in the country.
Raz went so far as to say she is “sure” the results would have been different if Israeli star and Olympic gold medalist in men’s floor exercise Artem Dolgopyat was there.
“The podium picture, we’re sure that would have looked different if he had competed on floor,” Raz said.
Artem Dolgopyat of Team Israel competes during the Artistic Gymnastics Men’s Floor Exercise Final on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Bercy Arena on August 3, 2024 in Paris, France. (Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)
The two gymnasts had a vacation planned for after championships, as a reprieve from the intensity of competition. They decided to still take the vacation, despite the incident. They traveled across Africa, stopping in Zanzibar before going on safari in Kenya.
“Emotionally, we were so drained,” Raz said, as both gymnasts said the trip was much-needed after the stress of the situation.
And now, they have returned to training, now more motivated for their next competitions, leading up to World Championships in 2026, 27 and potentially the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
They don’t expect to see similar issues as what happened in Indonesia to play out at other competitions again, as they claim to have been given some degree of reassurance by their federation, and the Olympic Committee of Israel that steps are being taken to prevent it.
“Our federation did and still keeps on doing everything so this will not happen, and also the Olympic Committee of Israel,” Raz said. “Everyone’s on board on this situation, and trying to prevent another one.”
Indig added, “We’re on high alert, everyone’s on high alert, and doing everything possible to make sure this won’t happen.”
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Indonesia’s sanction is just the latest example of restrictions placed on Israel’s sports teams and fans in recent months.
The Israel Premier Tech cycling team has been excluded from an upcoming race in Italy, the Giro dell’Emilia, scheduled for Oct. 4, over potentially disruptive pro-Palestinian protests.
The UEFA Europa League, Europe’s biggest soccer body, was reportedly moving toward a vote to suspend Israel over the war in Gaza in September. FIFA President Gianni Infantino later announced no action would be taken against the team, on Oct. 3.
Fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv are prohibited from attending a Europa League game in Birmingham, England, Nov. 6, over safety concerns, after the team’s fans were attacked in Amsterdam at a game against Ajax last fall.
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