Israel has criticized the “very low” number of arrests made following the attack on Maccab Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam.
Newly appointed Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Jerusalem on Monday that Israel considered the number of arrests over the clashes in Amsterdam last week to be “very low.”
“The mayor of Amsterdam informed me that a special investigation team had been formed, but I can say that so far the number of arrests is very low,” Saar said.
Israel had offered to help investigate violence that erupted in Amsterdam on Thursday following a soccer match between Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv and hosts Ajax.
Dutch police said they arrested 62 people in connection with the riots, which left between 20 and 30 Israeli team fans injured. Police said they had been pursued by groups of people who had responded to online calls to attack Jews.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said gangs on scooters attacked fans of the Israeli club, punching and kicking them in “hit-and-run” attacks.
A protester with a Palestinian flag and a Mobile Unit (ME) during a pro-Palestinian demonstration during the Ajax – Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Anton de Komplein
Protesters run with Palestinian flags before the UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Anton de Komplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on November 7, 2024.
Israeli soccer fans and Dutch youth clash near Amsterdam Central Station in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Nov. 8, 2024.
The Dutch city’s police chief said there had been “incidents on both sides” on Wednesday, 24 hours before the match.
“A Palestinian flag was set on fire at the dam,” he added, referring to Amsterdam’s central square.
In scenes showing the tensions, an unverified video on social media allegedly filmed on Thursday appeared to show some Maccabi fans chanting in Hebrew: ‘May the IDF (army) win!’ We’ll screw the Arabs!’
The Amsterdam scenes were enough to strike fear into other European nations.
Paris police said Sunday that 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed for a soccer match between France and Israel to ensure security in and around the stadium and on public transportation.
France and Israel will play a UEFA Nations League match on Thursday that will be attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, the Elysee presidential palace said.
Israel’s National Security Council, in a statement on Sunday, warned citizens abroad to avoid sporting and cultural events, specifically the match in Paris, and to be wary of violent attacks “under the guise of demonstrations.” .
“There is a context, tensions that make that match a high-risk event for us,” Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said on French news station BFM TV, adding that authorities ” “They will not tolerate” any violence.
Núñez said 2,500 police officers would be deployed around the Stade de France stadium, north of the French capital, in addition to another 1,500 in Paris and on public transport.
“There will be an anti-terrorist security perimeter around the stadium,” Núñez said. Security checks will be “reinforced,” he added, including with systematic pat-downs and bag searches.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans organize pro-Israel demonstration in Dam Square
In the run-up to the match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, several areas of Amsterdam were designated as security risk zones.
Hours before the match, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans held a pro-Israel demonstration in the city’s Dam Square.
A witness to violence in Amsterdam last week recalled how thugs were “not looking for Israelis, they were looking for Jews” in shocking “anti-Semitic” scenes following a Europa FC match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and AFC Ajax.
Recounting the horror of his ordeal, a 33-year-old man from Hendon, north London, known only as Aaron, told Jewish News: ‘We left the game early to meet a friend.
“As we walked towards the bar area, chaos broke out: mopeds appeared in the alleys and a crowd surrounded an Israeli.”
The father of two said he then saw the helpless fan on the ground, “with his head trapped between a sidewalk and a metal gate, being brutally kicked.” Aaron, who was with his friend Jacob, also from London, decided to intervene and chased away the attackers.
“We thought it was all over,” he said.
But moments later, the gang returned and confronted them and asked: ‘Are you Yehudi? Are you Jewish?
A video shows a man being dragged by his coat, and the person recording the video insults him and shouts statements in support of Gaza.
Witnesses have spoken of the shocking “anti-Semitic” scenes that followed the Europa FC match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and AFC Ajax on Thursday.
A British Jew known only as Aaron was left with blood streaming down his face after he intervened to help an Israeli football fan being attacked by an anti-Jewish gang in Amsterdam on Thursday night.
Jacob, a father of three from Golders Green, north London, said the men asked to see their passports to check whether they were Jewish or not.
Despite denying that they were Israeli, the men continued to harass the terrified couple and grabbed Jacob’s coat.
I told him to leave him alone and the next thing I knew he punched me in the face. It was so unexpected.
‘My glasses broke and my nose broke. Blood everywhere.
‘After he punched me, about 20 more came out of hiding to effectively finish me off.
But I stood my ground. I said what you’re doing is the reason you’re not getting any support.
When the gang leader said: “He’s British, leave him alone,” another replied: “Yes, but he helped a Jew.”
‘That,’ says Aaron, ‘is why they were angry. Because I helped a Jew.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv fans carry flags as they wait for their friends and family to arrive from Amsterdam at Ben Gurion International Airport.
Aaron claims he didn’t see any police officers until “about 45 minutes in” and believes they may have been “scared” by the violent scenes that unfolded.
He continued: ‘I saw this poor father with his son running towards the hotel.
They probably caught him. They weren’t looking for Israelis. They were looking for Jews. They knew what they were doing.
“It wasn’t a random ‘Oh, let’s find an Israeli.'” It was organized. It was ‘We want Jews.’ We want Jewish blood.'”
Aaron later received stitches for his facial injuries at a local hospital.
Moments after his attack, one of the gang members approached to apologize to him, saying: “I’m sorry, we thought you were a Zionist.”
Jacob added that after the apology, one of the gang said: “The streets are full of Zionists and we need to catch the Zionists.”
He said: “I’m not someone who is afraid, but it was a dangerous situation.” They were gangs of people out for blood.
And he adds: ‘They wanted to kill the guy I helped. They were just stomping on his head.