Israel football fans are ambushed and attacked by ‘anti-Semitic’ mob

Israeli and Dutch leaders have condemned ‘anti-Semitic’ attacks that erupted after a football match in Amsterdam overnight, with Israel sending rescue planes to bring home their citizens following the ‘very violent incident’. Israel’s embassy in the United States said ‘hundreds’ of Maccabi fans were ‘ambushed and attacked’ in the Dutch capital as they left the stadium following the game, blaming the incident on a ‘mob who targeted innocent Israelis’.

Shocking video shows Israeli fans being violently beaten on the streets late last night, with reports that assailants shouted ‘free Palestine’ during the attacks. Ten Israelis were hospitalized and three were reported to be out of contact with their families following the hours of violence, which saw people out in the city forced to seek shelter in shops.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that two planes were being sent to bring Israelis home safely, and urged people to stay in their hotels until help arrived. The situation calmed by this morning, Dutch authorities said, adding that dozens of arrests had been made after riot cops were seen tackling some of the gatherings but were allegedly absent during numerous violent attacks.

The violence reached its peak after the game between Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Dutch team Ajax, which saw the home side win 5-0. Video shared on social media shows Israeli supporters pulling down a Palestinian flag in central Amsterdam as tensions rose before and after the match.

The hooded figures are heard making chanting ‘[expletive] you Palestine’ and anti-Arab slogans can also be heard in the footage. Later in the night, video circulated of masked attackers, some reportedly speaking Arabic, chasing down Israeli fans in the city. One video shows a man being dragged by his coat, with the person taking the video swearing at him and shouting statements about Palestine and Gaza.

Graphic footage shows a man being set on by a masked gang who knock him to the ground and start punching him, as the man appears to say ‘I am not Jewish’ as he pleads with them to stop. Further video shows a man covering his head as he is hit by an attacker yelling ‘this is for the children… free Palestine now!’ Dutch Prime Minister Schoof denounced the ‘completely unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis’. ‘I followed with horror the coverage from Amsterdam,’ Schoof wrote on X, adding that he had spoken with Netanyahu to assure him that ‘the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted’.

Netanyahu’s office said he told Schoof that he ‘views the premeditated anti-Semitic attack against Israeli citizens with utmost seriousness and requested increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands’, his office said. Britain’s Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said on X: ‘Utterly devastating scenes from The Netherlands. Hateful mobs have chased down Jewish & Israeli football fans on the streets of Amsterdam after a match, violently beating them and proudly posting the footage on social media. Many are injured and three people are currently missing. This should be a watershed moment for Europe and for the world, when it realises how severe the scourge of anti-Jewish hatred has become. Sadly, I fear it will not be and that tragically, this will not be the last such attack, God forbid.’

Dutch media AT5 said the clashes occurred around midnight. It said that numerous fights, as well as acts of vandalism, had occurred in the city centre. ‘A large number of mobile unit vehicles are present and reinforcements have also been called in,’ it said. A Dutch police spokesperson said that 57 people had been arrested.

Israeli authorities urged their citizens in Amsterdam to stay in their hotels and avoid showing Israeli or Jewish symbols if they do go outside. The army said it was coordinating a ‘rescue mission’ with cargo aircraft and medical and rescue teams. Israel’s new foreign minister Gideon Saar said in a statement that he had requested the Dutch government’s assistance in ensuring Israeli citizens’ safe exit from their hotels to the airport.

Images on AT5 showed Dutch police escorting fans back to their hotels. On Thursday, Amsterdam police said on social media that they were being particularly vigilant in the wake of several incidents, including the tearing down of a Palestinian flag from a building. A pro-Palestinian rally demonstrating against the Israeli football club’s visit was initially scheduled to take place near the stadium but was relocated by the Amsterdam city council for security reasons.

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