We failed Jews during football attacks as we did under Nazis, says Dutch king
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The king of the Netherlands has said “we failed” the Jewish community as the country did “during World War Two” after Israeli football fans were ambushed, kicked and beaten on the streets of Amsterdam.
Israel sent two planes to rescue its citizens after the violence broke out in the aftermath of a Europa League match between Ajax Amsterdam and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday night.
Police said five people were taken to hospital and 62 arrests made after a pro-Palestinian mob began attacking Israeli football fans around midnight.
Speaking to Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, King Willem-Alexander expressed “deep horror and shock”, saying: “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War Two, and last night we failed again.”
Three-quarters of Dutch Jews were murdered during the Second World War under Nazi occupation, with 100,000 transported to Germany.
Earlier, Mr Herzog had called the “shocking” scenes an “anti-Semitic pogrom” reminiscent of last year’s Hamas attacks on Israel.
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Some fans were forced to leap into canals or hide in hotels to escape.
Rioters, some carrying knives and travelling on scooters, shouted slogans like “free Palestine” and “now you know how it feels”.
At least 25 Israelis were reportedly injured in the “hit and run” attacks that Amsterdam’s mayor, Femke Halsema, called is a “black night and a dark day” for the city as she announced emergency powers would be given to police and security forces.
In a press conference on Friday, she condemned the “explosion of anti-Semitism” and said military police would be deployed on the streets while protests and face coverings would be banned this weekend.
In a press conference on Friday, she announced emergency powers for security forces and designated the city a “security risk” area, deploying 800 more officers and banning protests this weekend.
Saying there was evidence that the riots were organised online, she said: “I understand very well that this brings back the memory of pogroms.”
Peter Holla, Amsterdam’s chief of police, added that officers were aware of reports of hostage-taking, but saw no evidence of this happening.
The violence sparked accusations from Geert Wilders, the pro-Israel hard-Right leader of the Freedom Party, that the Dutch government had failed to protect Jews. He declared the attacks to be a “Jew hunt”.
In response to David van Weel, minister for justice, vowing to “punish” those responsible, Mr Wilders asked: “Why wasn’t there enough police? Why wasn’t this provided for? Why don’t you send this scum out of the country?”
Mr Wilders, known for his anti-Islam rhetoric, added: “Where are the proposals to denaturalise criminal Muslims? Why isn’t there an extra cabinet meeting today? Where is the urgency?”
The first plane, ordered by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and carrying evacuated Israelis landed at Ben Gurion airport, in Tel Aviv, on Friday afternoon.
Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, will also travel to Amsterdam on Friday for an “urgent” visit, his office said. The foreign ministry had earlier compared the “horrific scenes” to “Europe’s darkest history”.
Israel’s military has now banned all personnel from travelling to the Netherlands until further notice.
Dick Schoof, the Dutch prime minister, who is in Hungary for an EU summit, said: “I followed the news from Amsterdam with horror,” adding that the violence constituted “completely unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis”.
Mr Schoof said he had spoken to Mr Netanyahu and assured him the perpetrators would be found and prosecuted after the latest example of rising anti-Semitism in Europe amid Israel’s war in Gaza.
The violence came after hundreds of Maccabi supporters gathered at the city’s National Monument in Dam Square, where police made several arrests on Thursday for breach of the peace.
There had been a heavy police presence in the city ahead of two major football matches coinciding with a week of Free Palestine demonstrations, and Dutch authorities had named a number of likely trouble spots, including Dam Square, ahead of time.
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Netanyahu said the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, which falls on Saturday, was “marked on the streets of Amsterdam” a day earlier.
“Tomorrow, 86 years ago, was Kristallnacht, when Jews on European soil were attacked for being Jews. This has now recurred,” Mr Netanyahu said referring to the events of Nov 9, 1938, a Nazi pogrom that eventually led to the murder of six million European Jews during the Holocaust.
He added: “There is one difference now, though, the Jewish people now have a state of their own.”
Joe Biden, the outgoing US president, said the “anti-Semitic” attacks “despicable and echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted”.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said he was “horrified” by violence, calling them “anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens”.
“My thoughts are with those injured, their families, and everyone affected,” he wrote on social media. “I utterly condemn these abhorrent acts of violence and stand with Israeli and Jewish people across the world.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the EU chief, said on Friday that she was “outraged” by “vile attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam”. She added: “Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in Europe, and we are determined to fight all forms of hatred.”
Sir Ephraim Mirvis, Britain’s chief rabbi, said the attacks should be a “watershed moment” for Europe.
“Utterly devastating scenes from the Netherlands,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Hateful mobs have chased down Jewish and Israeli football fans on the streets of Amsterdam after a match, violently beating them and proudly posting the footage on social media.
“This should be a watershed moment for Europe and for the world, when it realises how severe the scourge of anti-Jewish hatred has become. Sadly, I fear it will not be and that tragically, this will not be the last such attack, God forbid.”
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said the violence recalled “history’s darkest hour” and vowed that France would “relentlessly continue to fight against heinous anti-Semitism”.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said Jews must be able to feel safe in Europe and that “anyone who attacks Jews is attacking all of us”. He added: “We cannot accept this.”