The King of the Netherlands has admitted that Jews in the country have been “failed” after Israeli football fans were attacked by masked thugs following a match in Amsterdam.
The incident happened after a Europa League match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Johan Cruyff Arena, which resulted in the home team winning 5-0.
At least ten supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv were injured, with five being hospitalised. Sixty-one arrests were also made when the mob began attacking Israeli fans yesterday night.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to Amsterdam following the incident. Israel initially said it was planning to send military planes, though this was later changed to commercial aircrafts.
Dutch King admits ‘we failed Jews like we did in WW2’ after football fans attacked by masked thugs
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Israel’s National Security Ministry has also urged its citizens in the Dutch city to stay in their hotel rooms following the attacks, the Prime Minister’s office said in a second statement.
King Willem-Alexander, speaking to Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, has said that the nation has failed Jewish people as it did in the 1930s and 1940s.
Expressing his “deep horror and shock”, the King told Hogg: “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War Two, and last night we failed again.”
In response to the incident, Netanyahu said: “Tomorrow, 86 years ago, was Kristallnacht – an attack on Jews just for being Jews, on European soil.
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Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters demonstrate and light flares in Amsterdam, NetherlandsReuters/MICHEL VAN BERGEN
“It’s back now – yesterday we saw it on the streets of Amsterdam. This is what happened.”
Chanan Hertzberger, the chairman of the Central Jewish Council in the Netherlands, co, echoed Netanyahu’s comparison to yesterday’s incident to Kristallnacht.
“Our capital was the scene of a pogrom that would not have been out of place in Nazi Germany, albeit the contemporary version: the antisemitic gangs who, under the guise of anti-Zionism, have been trying to make life impossible for Jews in the Netherlands for some time now,” he said.
The mayor of the Dutch city has announced a series of emergency measures to be introduced following the attacks, which she is “furious” about.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that two rescue planes be sent to Amsterdam
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Policemen detain a person after youth clashed with Israeli football supporters
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Femke Halsema said during a news conference: “This is a very dark moment for the city, for which I am deeply ashamed. Antisemitic criminals attacked and assaulted visitors to our city, in hit-and-run actions.”
It was a “black night and a dark day” for the city, she added.
Police can now conduct extra searches, under the new measures. Protests and face coverings are also banned, and buildings that could be ambushed will be protected.
Palestinian and Israeli media reports tensions arose when Maccabi Tel-Aviv supporters damaged Palestinian flags in the city. Social media videos captured the purported incident, showing Israeli fans shouting slogans while an individual was taking the flag down.
Local police said 57 people had been held after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the stadium, even though the city had forbidden them to protest there.
Police said fans had left the stadium without incidents, but during the night various clashes in the city centre were reported.