Israeli Soccer Fans Injured in Attacks Linked to Antisemitism in Amsterdam

The police said dozens of people had been arrested amid violence tied to a soccer game between Dutch and Israeli teams. Israel said it would help bring home its citizens.

The Israeli government said on Friday that it would help bring home citizens injured in Amsterdam after bursts of violence tied to a soccer game between a Dutch and an Israeli team, which Israeli and Dutch officials described as antisemitic attacks.

The police in Amsterdam said in a statement on Friday that it had launched an investigation into multiple outbreaks of violence, and that five people had been hospitalized and 62 arrested. The statement did not say what had touched off the violence, the exact circumstances of which remained unclear.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said at least 10 Israeli citizens had been hurt in the violence and two others were missing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said his government would help in “providing civilian aviation solutions” for injured Israelis, and that he had spoken with Prime Minister Dick Schoof of the Netherlands.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli airline El Al said that it would “operate on short notice rescue flights” free of charge from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv starting Friday afternoon.

Gideon Saar, Israel’s newly appointed foreign minister, said he would travel to the Netherlands on Friday to meet with his Dutch counterpart as well as with Israelis and members of the Jewish community.

The Dutch police said earlier on Friday that the clashes, which began Thursday, took place in areas where people had gathered, some in support of the Israeli team and others to protest its arrival, creating a tense atmosphere.

The police did not comment on the reports that people were missing. Mr. Schoof said in a statement early Friday that there had been antisemitic attacks on Israelis in Amsterdam, calling them “completely unacceptable.”

He added that the situation had calmed and that he had told Mr. Netanyahu in their phone conversation that the perpetrators would be found and prosecuted.

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli government said it would send military planes to rescue its citizens, but Mr. Netanyahu’s office said later that “it was decided that deploying a professional rescue team to the Netherlands was unnecessary.”

For hours, from Thursday evening to early Friday, hundreds of fans of the Israeli soccer club, Maccabi Tel Aviv, who were in Amsterdam to see their team play against Ajax, Amsterdam’s soccer team, were being ambushed, the Embassy of Israel in the Netherlands said.

“Mobs chanted anti-Israel slogans and proudly shared videos of their violent acts on social media — kicking, beating, even running over Israeli citizens,” the embassy said on social media.

As the attacks went on, Israel warned its citizens in Amsterdam to stay off the streets and remain in their hotel rooms. Maccabi Tel Aviv warned people not to show Israeli or Jewish symbols outside, and to fly back to Israel as soon as they could.

“Our main goal is the safe and quick return of the fans to Israel,” the team wrote on social media.

Videos circulated on social media showing violent clashes on Amsterdam’s streets. One video verified by Reuters captured a crowd of more than a dozen men appearing to attack someone near the city center early Friday. The crowd dispersed when emergency sirens could be heard.

Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, wrote on social media that the images and videos circulating of the violence were of the sort that “we had hoped never to see again.”

The Dutch police said that some of the unrest took place at or near the Johan Cruyff Arena, where the soccer game was played.

Hundreds of Maccabi supporters had gathered in Amsterdam’s center early Thursday afternoon, where the atmosphere was initially tense but gradually became calmer, the police said in the statement. Ten people were arrested there before the game, the police said, mostly on charges of disrupting the public order.

At another square called Anton de Komplein, which is near the stadium, people protesting the arrival of Maccabi Tel Aviv clashed with the police after trying to make their way to the stadium. Amsterdam’s mayor, Femke Halsema, had earlier prohibited the protest from happening at the stadium and ordered it to take place at that square.

About 30 people were arrested in that confrontation on charges of disrupting the public order and setting off fireworks at the police, the police said.

Qasim Nauman, Nadav Gavrielov, Claire Moses and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.

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