There will be one police officer for every two football fans at Israel’s high security match against France in Paris tonight.
SAS-style special forces and up to 6,500 other security agents will be on duty at the Stade de France on Thursday evening.
This is despite organisers struggling to sell tickets for the Nations League game, with less than 13,000 seats reserved.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his prime minister, Michel Barnier, will attend the match, despite calls for it to be played in a neutral country.
Speaking before kick-off, Macron told the French TV channel BFMTV: ‘We will not give in to antisemitism anywhere and violence, including in the French Republic, will never prevail, nor will intimidation.’
The elite RAID tactical unit has been deployed following violence last week when Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv played in Amsterdam.
Fights connected to the ongoing conflict in Palestine and Lebanon broke out, with 52 Dutch nationals and 10 Israelis arrested for public order offences.
Local gang members targeted visiting supporters in what were described by the authorities as ‘anti-Semitic attacks’. Racist chanting was also heard from the Tel Aviv fans, including threats to kill Arabs and references to the massacre of children in Gaza.
SAS-style special forces and up to 6,500 other security agents will be on duty at the Stade de France on Thursday evening
Organisers have struggled to sell tickets for the Nations League game, with less than 13,000 seats reserved
Pro-Palestinian protestors marched outside the ground before the game
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said security at the Paris game was accordingly of extreme concern.
‘There’s a context, tensions that make that match a high-risk event for us,’ he said.
‘There will be an anti-terrorist security perimeter around the stadium,’ with the RAID – which stands for Search, Assistance, Intervenion, Deterrence – in attendance.
The RAID was one of the first special forces units to react when ISIS suicide bombers attacked Paris in November 2015, killing 130 people on a single night, including one man around the Stade de France.
Israeli security forces, including agents from the Mossad intelligence agency, will also be inside the stadium, the French authorities confirmed.
Only French tricolours and Israeli Star of Davids will be allowed, with any other flags banned.
Bruno Retailleau, France’s Interior Minister, said it was hugely important that the game went ahead in Paris.
‘I think that for a symbolic reason we must not yield, we must not give up,’ he said.
The elite RAID tactical unit has been deployed following violence last week when Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv played in Amsterdam (pictured)
There will be one police officer for every two football fans at Thursday night’s game (pictured: A riot police officer stands outside the Stade de France stadium)
Only French tricolours and Israeli Star of Davids will be allowed, with any other flags banned
A protestor holds a placard reading ’70 per cent of the dead in Gaza are women and children’ during a demonstration outside the ground
‘The RAID has been active since the Israeli team set foot on French soil, and they will be in the stadium,’ Mr Retailleau added.
The Israel team arrived in Paris earlier this week and has been staying and training at secret locations on the outskirts of Paris.
‘We feel safe here, there are a lot of security forces around us’ said Israeli manager, Ran Ben Shimon, who has been told that 4000 police and gendarmes will be at the game, along with at least 2600 other security agents.
It came as thousands of pro-Palestinians on Wednesday marched against a controversial pro-Israel gala in central Paris.
The ‘Israel is Forever’ gala was originally set to be attended by Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who currently lives in a settlement considered illegal under international law.
Mr Smotrich finally pulled out, following threats that an arrest warrant would be waiting for him in France.
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