Israel to remove soccer fans from Amsterdam after apparent anti-Semitic attacks

Enas Alashray and Bart H. Meyer

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Israel sent two planes on Friday to bring back fans of the Israeli soccer team from the Netherlands after overnight street attacks that officials described as anti-Semitic.

Videos circulating on social media showed riot police intervening in street clashes, with some attackers shouting anti-Israel slurs.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi supporters in Tel Aviv were “attacked, harassed and pelted with fireworks” and that riot police had to intervene several times to protect them and escort them to hotels.

Antisemitic incidents in the Netherlands have risen sharply since Israel launched an attack on the Gaza Strip following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas, with many Jewish organizations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the order to send the planes came after a “very violent incident” targeting Israeli citizens following a match between Maccabi and Ajax Amsterdam, which is traditionally considered a Jewish club.

An eyewitness captured video confirmed by Reuters showing a group of men running near Amsterdam Central Station, chasing and attacking other men as police sirens sounded.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was “horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens”, which he called “completely unacceptable”.

Shouf assured Netanyahu over the phone that “those responsible will be identified and brought to justice,” according to a statement posted on social media site X.

Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, head of the largest party in the Dutch government, said he was “ashamed that this could happen in the Netherlands.”

ISRAEL SAYS VIOLENCE REMINDED EUROPEAN POMORS

Police said 57 suspects were detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Arena, even though the city had banned protests there.

They said fans left the stadium without incident after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, but clashes broke out in the city center overnight.

President Isaac Herzog was among senior Israeli politicians who said the violence was reminiscent of an attack on Israel by Hamas militants last year, as well as attacks on European Jews in pogroms of previous centuries.

“This morning we are horrified to see shocking images and videos that since October 7 we had hoped to never see again: the anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi fans in Tel Aviv and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam,” he said. He. wrote on X.

Israel’s top-selling newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, quoted Israeli fans as saying the attacks appeared to be planned.

The Israeli military said it was sending cargo planes to the Netherlands along with medical and rescue teams in coordination with the Dutch government.

The Gaza War sparked protests on both sides across Europe and the United States, and both Jews and Arabs were attacked.

In March, Herzog’s opening of a new Holocaust museum in Amsterdam led to violent protests from pro-Palestinian activists.

More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and another 102,000 wounded in Israel’s military offensive on the Gaza Strip in response to a Hamas attack after the Palestinian militant group killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostages, according to health officials in the enclave. Israel.

Amsterdam officials were due to hold a news conference at noon (1100 GMT).

(Reporting by Enas Alashray in Cairo, Ahmed Elimam in Dubai; Additional reporting by Emily Rose in Jerusalem and Mahezabin Syed in Bengaluru; Writing by Michael Giorgi and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Lincoln Feast, Michael Perry and Kevin Liffey)