Five people were taken to hospital and 62 detained in Amsterdam after what authorities called an outburst of antisemitic violence towards fans of a Tel Aviv football club following clashes with pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday condemned what he called “horrifying” violence, and said he had spoken early in the day to Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
Israel’s newly appointed foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, was expected to arrive in the Netherlands on Friday as the clashes escalated into a major international incident.
Israel’s foreign ministry said 10 Israelis had been injured, while Dutch police said five people needed hospitalisation after the violence, which followed friction earlier in the week ahead of Thursday’s match between Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch side Ajax.
Amsterdam’s mayor, Femke Halsema, said in a press conference on Friday that it had been a “dark night . . . I understand why people are reminded of the pogroms”. She noted that the violence had taken place on the anniversary of the Nazis’ Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938.
“The war in the Middle East now threatens the peace in our city,” she added. “I am furious, and I am speaking on behalf of the city.”
Reacting to the violence, US-based hedge fund manager Bill Ackman announced plans to delist his Pershing Square vehicle from the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
In a post on X, Ackman said that concentrating on an existing listing in London and “leaving a jurisdiction that fails to protect its tourists and minority populations combine both good business and moral principles”.
The incident came amid heightened tensions in European cities over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as well as Israel’s offensive in Lebanon and exchanges of fire with Iran.
Peter Holla, Amsterdam police chief, said his force had “expected some risk” because of the Kristallnacht anniversary and had deployed 800 officers from around the country for the match.
He said a Palestinian flag had been set alight on the Dam city square, where by 1am on Friday a large group of Maccabi supporters had assembled to be confronted by “other supporters”. He said police were looking into reports that supporters of the Israeli club had displayed symbols of the country’s military.
Holla said the five wounded Maccabi supporters had now left hospital.
Schoof wrote on X that he was “horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens”, adding that the perpetrators would be prosecuted, while Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the violence as an “antisemitic pogrom”.
Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, who leads the largest party in the Netherlands’ ruling coalition, demanded the deportation of the “multicultural scum” he blamed for the incidents.
“We have become the Gaza of Europe,” Wilders said on X. “Muslims with Palestinian flags hunting down Jews.”
Israeli and European rightwing leaders have found common ground in recent years in suggesting that rising antisemitism is closely tied to Arab and Muslim immigration to western Europe. About 6 per cent of the Netherlands’ population is Muslim, according to official data.
Netanyahu had vowed to send two aircraft to the Netherlands to retrieve Israeli football fans, but the country’s military later said it had been instructed to cancel the mission.
Local authorities said on Friday that they had to intervene multiple times to protect Israeli fans. They said the incident “was very turbulent, with several incidents of violence aimed at Maccabi supporters”.
Police had said they were “extra present” in the city in the run-up to the clash, and Amsterdam’s mayor had earlier moved a pro-Palestinian protest to a location far from the stadium, local media reported, with social media images showing scuffles at that spot.
Fans of the Tel Aviv club told Israeli media that they were confronted by young Arab men after the game, and that many had since locked themselves in their hotel rooms and demanded police escorts to the airport.
A video posted on social media, and verified by the Financial Times, shows dozens of fans in Maccabi colours riding down escalators at the Amsterdam Central metro station, chanting abuse against Arabs in Hebrew.
Other videos appeared to show Arabic-speaking men chasing and assaulting at least two men, demanding that one say “Free Palestine”.
Israeli fans shared video and audio messages saying Dutch police had responded slowly, forcing them to shelter in their hotel rooms.
The local authorities — which include the mayor, police chief and chief public prosecutor — were in contact with the Dutch government, the Israeli embassy and representatives of the Jewish community in Amsterdam.
They said additional police would be available “to monitor and control the situation” with extra security for Jewish institutions, as requested by Netanyahu.
Herzog said he spoke to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, demanding local authorities “halt this terrible wave of antisemitic hatred”.
Uefa, European football’s governing body, said Maccabi’s Europa League game with Istanbul side Beşiktaş on November 28 would be played at a neutral venue. It said it “strongly condemns the incidents and acts of violence” in Amsterdam.
Maccabi Tel Aviv is the oldest and most successful Israeli football team. The team takes its name from the Maccabis, an ancient Jewish rebel army.
Video verification by Alison Killing