With the Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina set to open in just over a month, on February 6, Israel’s participation in Italy is under threat due to a bureaucratic passport crisis that could prevent several qualified athletes from competing.
While approximately 90 countries are expected to take part in the Games, uncertainty surrounds whether Israel will be able to send a full delegation – or any meaningful delegation at all.
The Olympic Committee of Israel has confirmed that figure skater Mariia Seniuk, who achieved the international qualifying standard, was selected to serve as Israel’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony at San Siro Stadium in Milan.
However, her participation is now in doubt because she is among three athletes who do not currently hold permanent Israeli passports. The others are skeleton racer Jared Firestone and cross-country skier Attila Mihaly Kertesz.
According to the Olympic Committee, the athletes are unable to receive passports due to a legal procedure requiring approval from a serving interior minister – a position that is currently vacant. Without an Israeli passport, international regulations prevent athletes from representing their country at the Olympic Games.
Passport bureaucracy threatens Israel Olympic hopes
Olympic Committee of Israel chairwoman and International Olympic Committee member Yael Arad addressed the situation sharply.
“This is a case I don’t remember ever happening,” she said. “We feel that our athletes are a kind of hostage because of a change in the law that was made a few years ago. They don’t receive Israeli passports, and they simply can’t travel around the world in an orderly manner. According to international law, athletes without a passport from their country cannot participate in the Games.”
Israeli law states that citizens who don’t spend the required amount of time in the country are not typically issued passports and instead travel on a different document called a “teudat ma’avar”.
Ironically, due to the lack of winter-sport training facilities in Israel, these athletes must spend most of their time training and competing abroad, which disqualifies them from meeting the residency requirement for an Israeli passport.
Arad added that the timing has heightened anxiety among the athletes.
“We are five weeks from the start of the Games, after months of dealing with this, and we are almost begging to get a signature from the interior minister so they can receive a passport? This is unacceptable,” she said. “It puts us in a situation of anxiety, uncertainty, for athletes who worked for years to achieve the qualification.”
Calling for immediate government intervention, Arad warned of the consequences.
“If we do not receive passports, there will not be a real delegation,” she said. “This would be a failure. It must not happen.”
Olympic Committee of Israel CEO Gili Lustig echoed the concerns.
“This will be a major crisis as long as the state does not help,” he said. “All that’s needed is for their passports to be signed so they can have an Israeli passport. This is an impossible situation. The delegation is small as it is.”
The issue has been under review by the Olympic Committee for several months. In the absence of a permanent interior minister – with the term of the acting minister having ended – the matter was raised with Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar and even reached President Isaac Herzog.
However, no resolution has yet been achieved. The prime minister cannot directly intervene due to a conflict of interest.
Arad stressed the broader significance of Israel’s participation on the international stage.
“We are entering 2026, and we are still not in the situation we were in before the war. There are still less comfortable situations in the international arena,” she said. “Israeli sport is an ambassador for the people of Israel and the State of Israel. We have a responsibility on our shoulders and a right to continue raising Israeli flags everywhere in the world.”
Inquiries to the Interior Ministry did not provide further clarity on the situation.
While Israel is not traditionally a winter sports nation – and has never won a medal at the Winter Olympics, compared to 20 overall at the Summer Games – Arad emphasized the importance of supporting athletes who have reached the highest level.
“We are not a winter country, and we don’t have snowy natural sites, but we have Israeli athletes for whom this is a dream – and we support them,” she said.
The Winter Olympics will feature eight sports and 16 disciplines, with approximately 2,900 athletes competing across 13 venues. The Israeli Olympic Committee expects a delegation of between five and nine athletes, pending resolution of the passport issue.
Israel sent just six athletes to the 2022 Games in Beijing, and 10 to the 2018 Olympics, its largest delegation to date. By contrast, Israel sent 88 athletes to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Head of mission Yarden Har-Lev outlined the potential team.
“In alpine skiing, Noa Szollos and Barni [Barnabas] Szollos are expected to compete,” she said. “In the 10-kilometer cross-country ski event, Attila Kertesz. In skeleton, Jared Firestone. In bobsleigh, AJ Edelman in either the two-man or four-man events.”
However, Edelman’s participation remains uncertain, as he qualified while competing alongside non-Israeli teammates. The Israeli Olympic Committee has made clear that it will not allow athletes without Israeli citizenship to secure Olympic qualification on behalf of Israel.
Arad explained the policy.
“The qualification must be achieved by athletes who actually represent Israel, and not through foreigners,” she said. “We are no longer going there just to participate – we want success. The aspiration is medals and finals, with the best possible performances. I don’t see how this helps our culture of achievement.”
Lustig reinforced the stance with a clear analogy.
“It is inconceivable that we would take two 4x100-meter runners from Jamaica to achieve the qualification because they run under 10 seconds, and then replace them with two Israelis who run 11 seconds,” he said. “That is not relevant and not appropriate. The minimum requirement is that whoever achieves the qualification is an Israeli athlete.”
As things stand, the registration deadline for the Winter Olympics is January 26, 2026.
“We expect progress by then,” said an Israeli Olympic Committee official. “If these athletes cannot represent Israel, the delegation will almost not exist. That would be a major failure and a crying shame for generations.”