THE SWISS NATIONAL BROADCASTER has pulled from its website the commentary of an Olympic bobsleigh run, during which one reporter questioned at length the presence of an Israeli athlete at the Games because of his alleged support for the genocide in Gaza.

Stefan Renna, the commentator on Swiss channel RTS, said during a live broadcast yesterday that Israeli Olympian Adam Edelman’s supportive comments of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 people and the destruction of most of the territory’s infrastructure, should have resulted in him being barred from the Olympics.

“Edelman, first appearance at an Olympic Games, who defines himself and I quote ‘as a Zionist to the core’,” Renna said, as Edelman and teammate Menachem Chen began their two-man bobsleigh run on Monday.

Israel's Adam Edelman and Menachem Chen during the Men's 2-man Bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics yesterday. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The commentator went on to tell viewers that Edelman had posted on social media “in favour of the genocide in Gaza. I remind you that genocide is the term used by the United Nations commission of inquiry”.

A commission mandated by the United Nations and several NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have found that Israel perpetrated a genocide in Gaza.

The International Association of Genocide Scholars, a 500-member body of academics, historians, lawyers and human rights specialists, also formally declared in September that Israel’s ongoing actions in Gaza constitute genocide.

Renna also commented that Edelman had “said the Israeli military intervention was, I quote, the most morally justified war in history”.

He suggested Edelman should have been barred from the Milan-Cortina Games on the same basis that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to allow Russian athletes to appear if they had made pro-war remarks regarding their country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Edelman, who ended up finishing in last place in the two-man bobsleigh heat yesterday, was furious and hit back on his Instagram account.

“I am aware of the commentator directed towards the Israeli bobsled team on the Swiss Olympic broadcast today,” Edelman wrote.

“I can’t help but notice the contrast: Shul Runnings is a team of 6 proud Israelis who’ve made it to the Olympic stage,” he said in a reference to the Israeli team’s nickname, a play on the film “Cool Runnings” about the debut of the Jamaican bobsleigh team at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

“No coach with us. No big programme. Just a dream, grit and unyielding pride in who we represent.

“Working together towards such an incredible goal and crushing it. Because that’s what Israelis do.

“I don’t think it’s possible to witness that and give credence to this commentary.”

The Israeli embassy in Switzerland also reacted robustly to the commentary.

“We are deeply appalled by the blatant abuse of a live Olympic broadcast by a Swiss RTS journalist,” the embassy posted on their X account.

They demanded action be taken against the journalist.

We are deeply appalled by the blatant abuse of a live Olympic broadcast by a Swiss RTS journalist who exploited coverage of the bobsleigh competition to advance a personal political agenda, fabricating facts and spreading slander against Israeli athletes.

The Olympic Games are…

— Israel in der Schweiz (@israelinCH) February 17, 2026

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said it was not for them to comment.

“In terms of specific comments by a commentator, that is a matter you have to refer to the broadcaster,” Adams said at the IOC daily briefing at the Winter Olympics.

Additional reporting by Andrew Walsh