Attacks on Israeli fans in the Netherlands prompts Dutch prime minister to cancel climate talks trip

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Saturday canceled a trip to United Nations climate talks in Azerbaijan so that he can stay in the Netherlands to deal with the fallout from assaults on fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team in Amsterdam that authorities condemned as antisemitic.
The government will discuss the Thursday night violence at a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Schoof posted on X, saying that he would hold talks on tackling antisemitism on Tuesday.
Police launched a large-scale investigation after gangs of youths conducted what Amsterdam’s mayor called “hit and run” attacks on fans that were apparently inspired by calls on social media to target Jewish people. Five people were treated at hospitals and more than 60 suspects were arrested.
Amsterdam prosecutors said that four of the suspects, including two minors, remained jailed Saturday and would be arraigned next week. The prosecutors said in a statement that they expect more arrests as investigators comb through video images of the violence.
None of the arrests made so far were for violence after the match, prosecutors said.
In addition to the police investigation and an independent inquiry announced by Amsterdam’s mayor, Dutch Justice and Security Minister David van Weel said in a letter to lawmakers that the government is investigating whether warnings of possible violence from Israel were overlooked in the lead up to the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi.
 
Amsterdam’s Mayor Femke Halsema, centre, acting Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla, left, and head of the Amsterdam public prosecutor’s office René de Beukelaer hold a news conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday Nov, 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Corder)
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rushed to the Netherlands on Friday and offered Israel’s help in the police investigation. He met Saturday with Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp and with Schoof.
Schoof said on X that he told Saar, “that the Dutch government is doing everything it can to ensure that the Jewish community in our country feels safe.”
In a statement released after meeting, Saar said that he told Schoof that the attacks on Jews and Israelis “and the demand by their attackers they present passports to prove their identity, were reminiscent of dark periods in history. He stressed that Israel could not accept the persecution of Jews and Israelis on European soil.”
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said that the Netherlands’ counterterror watchdog had reported before the match there was no “concrete threat” to Israeli fans, and the match wasn’t considered a high risk.
Even so, Amsterdam authorities banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the Johan Cruyff Arena where Thursday night’s match was played. Video also showed a large crowd of Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans on their way to the game. Afterward, youths on scooters and on foot went in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them and then fleeing quickly to evade hundreds of police officers deployed around the city, Halsema said.
Pro-Palestinian supporters march with Palestinian flags near the Ajax stadium in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)
Schoof returned early from a European Union summit in Hungary and met Friday night with representatives of the Jewish community in the Netherlands.
“It was a compelling conversation about the sadness and uncertainty experienced in the Jewish community. Every day they experience the consequences of growing antisemitism in the Netherlands,” Schoof said on X.
A ban on demonstrations was in place throughout Amsterdam over the weekend, and security was beefed up at Jewish sites in the city, which has a large Jewish community and was home to Jewish World War II diarist Anne Frank and her family as they hid from Nazi occupiers.