Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv: Mayor condemns anti-Semitic violence

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema on Thursday condemned violence in the city as an “anti-Semitic hit-and-run” after Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were attacked after traveling to her team's Europa League game against Ajax Amsterdam.

“This is a very dark moment for the city, for which I am deeply ashamed,” Halsema said at a news conference on Friday.

“Anti-Semitic criminals have attacked and mistreated visitors to our city in hit-and-run operations,” the mayor added, saying the perpetrators had managed to evade a large police presence.

Israel's foreign minister made an urgent trip to the Netherlands after violence against Israeli football fans broke out in the Dutch city overnight. Israel initially ordered two planes to be sent to bring fans home, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office later said it would work to help citizens arrange commercial flights.

Videos circulating on social media showed clashes on the streets and the intervention of riot police.

Police said fans left the stadium without incident, but clashes broke out in the city center overnight. At the news conference, Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla said Maccabi supporters burned a Palestinian flag and attacked a taxi on Wednesday.

Five people were hospitalized as a result of the violence and another 20 to 30 were slightly injured, according to Dutch police, while there was no evidence of hostage-taking or missing people in the night's events.

Senior public prosecutor Rene de Beukelaer said on Friday that 62 people had been arrested and ten people were still in custody.

The suspects were arrested after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Stadium, despite the city banning a protest there. Ajax defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 5-0.

An eyewitness captured video, confirmed by Reuters, that shows a group of men running near Amsterdam Central Station, chasing and attacking other men as police sirens wail.

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

In a statement to

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens arrive safely at the airport, Saar said in a phone call with his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp on Friday.

“After a sporting football match with a good atmosphere in our stadium – for which we thank everyone involved for the good cooperation – we were horrified to learn what happened last night in the center of Amsterdam,” Ajax said in a statement. “We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli national team is scheduled to play in the Nations League against France in Paris on November 14th. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Thursday that the game would go ahead as planned at the Stade de France, just outside the French capital, following assurances from police.

Information from the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.