Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday requested his counterpart in the Netherlands to provide increased security for Israelis after supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team were assaulted by anti-Israel protesters on Thursday.
Israeli airline El Al is sending flights to Amsterdam on Shabbat to evacuate Israelis, following the Israeli Defense Forces’ decision to stand down on a planned “immediate rescue mission” to the city.
The Israeli government reported that up to 20 of its citizens were injured, while seven others remain unaccounted for since the attacks.
“The police have launched a major investigation into multiple violent incidents. So far, it is known that five people have been taken to the hospital and 62 individuals have been arrested,” Amsterdam Police said in a statement.
In a conversation with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof after the violence, Netanyahu expressed his serious concern over the “premeditated attacks.” He urged Schoof to strengthen security measures for Israelis in the country.
Israel has also added more phone lines at the embassy and in the Foreign Ministry’s situation room.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described Thursday’s attacks as the most alarming event for Jews since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel.
“We woke up this morning to shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an antisemitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam, Netherlands,” Herzog wrote on X.
“This is a serious incident, a warning sign for any country that wishes to uphold the values of freedom.”
Reports suggest some fans were chanting anti-Arab slogans before the game. In one social media video verified by Israeli officials, the traveling Maccabi fans were seen setting off flares and chanting “Ole, ole, let the IDF win, we will f–k the Arabs,” in an apparent reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement “strongly condemning the anti-Arab slogans and hostile actions carried out by supporters of an Israeli football club in Amsterdam.
“These acts included the desecration and removal of the Palestinian flag from symbolic sites that signify solidarity with Palestinian rights and resistance against the ongoing occupation and systematic violence in Gaza,” it added.
The Dutch prime minister on Friday condemned the “antisemitic” violence as “unacceptable” and stated that the “perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted.”
Videos on social media captured multiple fights occurring in the streets outside the stadium where Maccabi Tel Aviv FC was playing Ajax. Days prior to the game, Spanish media reported that Palestinian activists would protest outside the stadium to target Israel’s soccer club and its fans.
“We have become the Gaza of Europe,” populist Dutch political leader Geert Wilders of the anti-Muslim immigration Freedom Party in the Netherlands said following the attacks.
“Muslims with Palestinian flags hunting down Jews. I will NOT accept that. NEVER,” he wrote on X. “The authorities will be held accountable for their failure to protect the Israeli citizens. Never again.”
The IDF has barred soldiers from flying to Amsterdam, but “exceptional requests will be examined individually,” the military stated.
‘ Greg Norman contributed to this report.