Israel to collect football fans from Amsterdam after apparent antisemitic attacks

A video verified by Reuters showed a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and assaulting other men, as police sirens sounded.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was “horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens”, which he called “completely unacceptable”.

Schoof said he had assured Netanyahu by phone that “the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted”.

Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, head of the largest party in the Dutch government, said he was “ashamed that this can happen in the Netherlands”.

In a vitriolic post on the social media platform X, he blamed “criminal Muslims” and said they should be deported.

ISRAEL SAYS VIOLENCE RECALLS EUROPEAN POGROMS

Police said there had been incidents before the game, for which roughly 3,000 Maccabi supporters travelled to Amsterdam.

The Israeli embassy in The Hague said mobs had chanted anti-Israel slogans and shared videos of their violence on social media, “kicking, beating, even running over Israeli citizens”.

“On the eve of Kristallnacht – when Jews in Nazi Germany faced brutal attacks – it is horrifying to witness antisemitic violence on the streets of Europe once again,” it said.

Police said 62 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Arena, even though the city had forbidden a protest there.

They said fans had left the stadium without incident after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, but that clashes erupted overnight in the city centre.