Israeli football fans attacked by attackers in Amsterdam

Pro-Palestinian attackers attacked Israeli fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football team on the streets of Amsterdam on Thursday evening after a match between the Israeli team and a local team, Ajax, in a series of attacks that Israeli and American leaders described as a modern attack. -day pogrom.

According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, 10 Israelis were still missing and at least 10 were injured as of Friday morning. Videos shared on social media showed Israelis being attacked with knives, batons and vehicles, and attackers shouting anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian slogans.

While a video circulated on social media showing Israeli football fans chanting anti-Arab slogans, and additional videos showed Israelis removing Palestinian flags from buildings, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said posted evidence that the attacks were premeditated. For example, a Dutch pro-Palestinian group called for “a direct clash with our enemy ((Israeli occupation forces) and Mossad)” on an Instagram page. after two days before the match. Chikli also said there was a threat against a specific Maccabi fan serving in the Israeli Border Police, who received security instructions directly from the government, and against a hotel where Israelis were staying.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would send planes to the Netherlands to evacuate Israeli citizens. The IDF had that too announced plans to send a rescue mission, but it was later called off.

Three El Al emergency planes left Israel for Amsterdam on Friday morning, one of which carried Israel’s new Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, en route to meetings with his Dutch counterpart and the local Jewish community, and to monitor the efforts to evacuate Israelis. .

Two scheduled flights would also depart from Amsterdam on Friday, capable of carrying a total of 350 passengers. The emergency flights were expected to arrive in Israel on Shabbat, with special permission from Israel’s Chief Rabbi.

Netanyahu demanded action from Dutch security forces and said he had consulted top security officials.

“The harsh images of the attack on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked. Prime Minister Netanyahu views the horrific incident with the utmost seriousness and demands that the Dutch government and security forces take strong and swift action against the rioters and ensure the safety of our citizens,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Netanyahu also spoke with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, emphasizing that the Netherlands must ensure the safety of Israeli tourists, including those who were injured, and calling for increased security for the local Jewish community.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office called the attacks a pogrom.

Schoof expressed his “disgust” about the events in a message on Xand said these were “completely unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis.”

“The perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted,” Schoof wrote, adding that “it is now calm in the capital.”

Israel’s National Security Council ordered Israelis to stay in their hotel rooms and not go out on the streets for hours before telling them it is safe to go to the airport. The NSC continued to recommend covering up all signs of Israeli or Jewishness and returning to Israel as soon as possible. They also asked Israelis in Amsterdam to download the Home Front Command app, which typically sends location-based alerts about missiles and rockets launched at Israel, to receive security updates in the Netherlands.

Hours after the attacks ended, the NSC maintained a high alert level for Jewish and Israeli locations across the Netherlands, warning of further attacks inspired by the violent riot.

Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Freedom Party, called the attacks “a hunt for Jews,” blaming Muslims and saying the Netherlands had become the “Gaza of Europe.” to inform on X.

‘Arrest and deport the multicultural scum’ he wrote. “Embarrassed that this can happen in the Netherlands.”

Chikli confirmed this Jewish insider that Israel has sent advance warnings to Dutch law enforcement authorities.

“Unfortunately, the local forces have failed in their mission to defend Israeli citizens’ football fans,” Chikli said wrote on X.

Although the Amsterdam police were on edge prior to the football match and accompanied Israeli fans went from the stadium to Dam Square, where many of their hotels were located, until about 1 a.m. Law enforcement authorities in Amsterdam responded slowly to the violence that broke out around 2:30 am, according to media reports. After the riots broke out, Israeli authorities continued to contact Dutch colleagues with information, and police diverted dozens of Israeli football fans to another location.

Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, anti-Semitism envoy of the US Department of State, said she was “shocked by the attacks tonight in Amsterdam, which are terribly reminiscent of a classic pogrom.”

“I am also deeply disturbed by how long the reported attacks have lasted and call on the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the intervention of the security forces and how these despicable attacks came about,” Lipstadt continued. “In a terrible historical irony, this happens two days before the grim anniversary of the 1938 Reichspogrom Night, when Nazi-sanctioned and led pogroms against Jews broke out across the German Empire.”

Last month, a Dutch police spokesperson said admitted that there were officers who had ‘moral objections’ to the protection of Jewish sites, including the National Holocaust Museum.

US lawmakers also condemned the attacks on Israeli fans.

Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), the co-chair of the Senate Anti-Semitism Task Force, said she was “shocked” by the attacks.

“Jews face violence and terror because of who they are, and we must condemn it all in the strongest terms,” Rosen said. “Ahead of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the world cannot remain silent as anti-Semitism rears its ugly head.

Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) called the scenes “despicable.”

“After the Holocaust we said: Never again, and yet here we are almost 80 years later,” Britt continued. “I pray for the Jewish people worldwide.”

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) said he and a group of Jewish members plan to discuss the matter with the Dutch ambassador to the United States on Friday.

“This is outrageous,” Sherman said. “The Dutch government must protect Jews from these attacks and prosecute the attackers.”

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said the attacks amount to ‘nothing less than a pogrom’.

“Dutch law enforcement must immediately stop these targeted attacks on Jews,” Goldman said. “Anti-Semitism is spreading around the world and all those who oppose hatred must speak out.”

So does Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). described the attack as a ‘pogrom’.

“The hysterical and hyperbolic demonization of Israel has led to a global outbreak of anti-Semitic vitriol, vandalism and violence. The most monstrous expression of anti-Semitism is a pogrom currently unfolding against hundreds of Jews who cheered on the Tel Aviv football club in Amsterdam,” Torres said. “Those who incited anti-Semitism now have the blood of a 21st century pogrom on their hands.

Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD), marked that the attack takes place days before the anniversary of Kristallnacht.

“Jews are once again facing anti-Semitism and vicious attacks in Europe,” Hoyer said. “I am deeply disturbed by the reports from Amsterdam and I will continue to work to stop the rise of anti-Semitism around the world and in America.”

Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) said he was “shocked” and that “we must ensure that our Jewish brothers and sisters here in the United States are protected.”

Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) connected those describing the attack as a pogrom and questioning the apparent lack of police response seen in videos. He said lawmakers would “demand answers” ​​from the Dutch embassy.

Jason Greenblatt, an official in the first Trump administration, said that the incident “should be at the top of the agenda” when Dutch officials seek meetings with the new Trump administration, adding that the current administration “needs to (jump on) this now.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said that “this is exactly what ‘globalizing the intifada’ looks like.”

“Hate-filled people who chase and attack innocent Israeli football fans, whom they have dehumanized as ‘Zionists,’ and hunt down and brutalize ordinary people who only came to Amsterdam to enjoy a football match,” Greenblatt continued. “We demand that the Dutch authorities do everything necessary to guarantee the safety of Israeli fans, make efforts to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators, and apologize for this obscene, unprovoked violence.”

Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the incident highlights the need to “deport radical Islamists who are not U.S. citizens,” a focus of newly elected President Donald Trump and other Republicans’ messaging around anti-Semitism and anti-Israel protests in the U.S.

Dubowitz said such individuals endanger all moderates and that “if we do nothing, our cities risk becoming like Amsterdam, Brussels, Malmö and the like, where violent extremists rule the streets.”

He warned European countries that they “risk losing your country, democracies and way of life.”

Yinam Cohen, Israeli Consul General in the Midwestern United States, said that a common thread connects the events in Amsterdam with an attack by anti-Israel demonstrators on a synagogue in Chicago the night before. He also called the attack in Amsterdam a pogrom.

“Both were committed by ‘pro-Palestinian’ Middle Eastern gangs, fueled by calls to ‘globalize’ the Intifada – spreading hatred and inciting violence against Jews,” Cohen said.

A football match between France and Israel will take place in a suburb of Paris on November 14. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who has authority over the national police, said the game would not be moved.

“France is not withdrawing because that would amount to giving up in the face of the threat of violence and anti-Semitism,” Retailleau said. wrote on X. “At my request, the Prefect of Police (Laurent Nunez) is taking the necessary security measures to ensure that this match takes place at the Stade de France as usual.”

This story was updated at 7:00 a.m. ET