Israel Slapped with First International Sanctions Since Start of Gaza War, Gets Banned from Top Science Competition

The International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) committee has voted to ban Israel from competing under the Israeli flag in response to the country's war in Gaza.

Sun Teck Tan, the president of the Olympiad, wrote in a statement at the end of this year's competition, "Members of the community requested that the IOI respond to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by the ongoing conflict. During IOI 2024, the General Assembly debated many options at length. The question about what action to take, if any, was not taken lightly."

He continued, "The result was a vote to sanction Israel for its role in the crisis. Over two thirds of the delegations voted in favor of this action. Specifically, the action means that beginning in 2025, Israel will not be recognized as a participating delegation at IOI, but four contestants from Israel may still participate under the IOI flag."

Four Israeli students competed remotely at this year's IOI, which was held in Alexandria, Egypt, as reported by ynetnews. The team took home three gold medals and one bronze medal, meaning it won the second-most medals out of all the countries competing.

The decision to sanction Israel marks the first since the start of Israel's war against Hamas. Israel's Ministry of Education told ynetnews Wednesday morning that the IOI's decision "will not happen."

"Israel will not be able to participate in the competition next year, but individually and not as an Israeli delegation under the Israeli flag? Not going to happen! The Israeli team will carry the Israeli flag proudly on the way to many more victories and international achievements. Nothing will not change this. The ministry is examining, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, decisive measures on the issue," the ministry said in a statement.

Similar decisions were made against Russia and Belarus by the International Olympic Committee for the invasion of Ukraine. Russian and Belarussian athletes were still allowed to compete, but under the IOC and Paralympic flags. A similar motion was made by French lawmakers for the Paris Olympics, but was rejected.