Amsterdam Anti-Semitic rioters “actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and attack them” after a football match, Amsterdam authorities said on Friday as Israel said it was sending planes to the Dutch capital to fly fans home.
An unknown number of Israeli fans were injured in Thursday evening’s violence, which was condemned as anti-Semitic by the leaders of both the Netherlands and Israel.
The attacks on fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv football club came after a Europa League football match between their team and Ajax.
The violence broke out despite a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the football stadium imposed by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, who feared clashes would break out between demonstrators and supporters of the Israeli football club.
Halsema said supporters of the Israeli team were injured and the extent of the violence and the number of arrests were still unclear, according to Reuters news agency.
Agence France-Presse reported that a Dutch police spokesperson told the ANP news agency that 57 people had been arrested.
AFP said social media platforms were flooded with unverified images purporting to show the violence, but authorities offered few confirmed details.
AFP said AT5 reported that the clashes took place around midnight with numerous fights and vandalism in central Amsterdam. “A large number of mobile unit vehicles are present and reinforcements have also been called in,” said AT5.
X/iAnnet via REUTERS.
Details were unclear, but Israel ordered two planes sent to the Dutch capital to bring the Israelis home.
“The Prime Minister has ordered that two rescue planes be sent immediately to help our citizens,” said a statement from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
It added that “the harsh images of the attack on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked,” and that Netanyahu “considers the premeditated anti-Semitic attack on Israeli citizens with the utmost seriousness.” He demanded that the Dutch government take “strong and swift action” against those involved.
Netanyahu’s office added that he had called for greater security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on X that he followed reports about the violence ‘with horror’.
“Completely unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis. I am in close contact with all those involved,” he added, saying he had spoken to Netanyahu and “emphasizing that the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted. It is now quiet in the capital.”
In a post on the social media platform the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli embassy in Washington said on The embassy blamed a “mob targeting innocent Israelis.”
Geert Wilders, the far-right nationalist lawmaker whose Freedom Party won elections in the Netherlands last year and who is a staunch ally of Israel, responded to a video apparently showing a Maccabi fan surrounded by several men.
“It looks like a Jew hunt in the streets of Amsterdam. Arrest and deport the multicultural scum who attacked the supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv in our streets. Ashamed that this can happen in the Netherlands. Totally unacceptable,” said Wilders.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon also condemned the violence in a post on social media platform X.
