In the past decade, French-Algerian runner Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad was among the world's top athletes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Frenchman secured three Olympic medals (silver in 2008 and 2012, bronze in 2016) and clinched five gold medals in the European Athletics Championships. However, he recently headlines under much more contentious circumstances.
Mekhissi-Benabbad took to X, formerly Twitter, to express his controversial views in a now deleted post comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
"Hitler was a boy scout compared to Netanyahu," he proclaimed, adding that the Western world is guilty of collaboration. He included various hashtags such as "Israeli Nazis," "Real Nazi Israelis," and "Netanyahu a criminal."
Arnaud Robinet, the mayor of Mekhissi-Benabbad's hometown, Reims, took to X to share his disapproval, saying, "To think that this person has worn the French national team jersey. I am ashamed on behalf of my city... what a downfall."
Later, the athlete walked back on his statements, though did not reaffirmed that he believes Netanyahu is committing genocide just as Hitler did.
"Israel launched a war aimed at annihilating Hamas, but today it is civilians who are being annihilated, and that's what makes me angry," he wrote in an X post, apologizing for a "bad and clumsy" comparison.
"I don't want to trivialize what Hitler had done - far from it, because he was a monster."
He clarified: "The comparison was that Hitler committed genocide, just like Netanyahu is doing, while the world powers are able to stop this horror."
Je ne souhaite pas banaliser ce que Hitler a pu commettre, loin de là car c’était un monstre.J’ai été maladroit et la comparaison était que Hitler a commis un génocide tout comme netanyahu est entrain de le faire, alors que les puissances mondiales peuvent stopper l’horreur.
— Mekhissi Mahiedine (@officielmmb) November 1, 2023
He then lastly commented that "I condemn all terrorism, whether from the Israelis or the Palestinians. I am not antisemitic, I condemn what Hamas is doing, I simply with for peace and love for all people."
Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad's history of controversy and criticism of Israel
In the wake of the conflict in the Middle East, Mekhissi-Benabbad's entire X feed has been filled with support for Palestinians and strong criticism of Israel. In one post, he criticized the leaders of Arab nation for being unable to protect Palestinian peoples as they were being "massacred." In another, he claimed that there are only cowards in the IDF, calling them subhuman and accusing them of kill children.
The 38-year-old Mekhissi-Benabbad retired earlier this year. His career was marked by remarkable achievements, but also marred by several bizarre incidents.
In 2010, after winning a gold medal at the European Championships in Barcelona, he pushed a mascot into the pool. Two years later, a similar incident occurred during the championship held in Finland when a 14-year-old girl was inside the mascot costume. Mekhissi-Benabbad refused to apologize for both of these incidents.
In the summer of 2011, he engaged in a physical altercation with his compatriot Mehdi Baala on the track, resulting in a 10-month suspension.