At least ten people were injured and three are missing, with many besieged in hotels as pro-Palestine hooligans ambushed Israelis after a football match in the Netherlands. Israel is about to send planes to rescue its citizens.
On the evening of 7 November 2024, following a UEFA Europa League match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax in Amsterdam, Israeli football fans were subjected to violent attacks by pro-Palestinian assailants. The incidents resulted in at least ten injuries, with three individuals reported missing. Videos circulating on social media depict attackers wielding knives, clubs, and vehicles, while shouting anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian slogans.
The internet videos show Israeli supporters being attacked en masse by masked hooligans. Several people were apparently stopped in the street by mobs forcing them to show their ID to prove they were not Israeli, while several people who were caught not speaking Dutch were also assaulted. There are reports suggesting that the attacks were planned in advance, with violent gangs waiting for Israeli supporters at the end of the match in every street leading out of the stadium.
Some video footage on social media also showed Israelis chanting anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian slogans in the city before the game, pointing to high tensions even before the nighttime attacks.
In response to the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to dispatch two planes to the Netherlands to evacuate Israeli citizens. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also prepared a rescue mission in coordination with the Dutch authorities. As of Friday morning, Israel was awaiting authorization for these flights.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry advised all Israeli citizens not to leave their hotels and avoid displaying Israeli and Jewish symbols on the streets. Israelis were advised to head back home as early as possible.
Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders described the events as a ‘pogrom’ on his X account,phrasing what happened as ‘Muslims with Palestinian flags hunting down Jews’. Wilders also stated that the Netherlands had ‘become the Gaza of Europe’ and called for the resignation of the mayor of Amsterdam.
‘We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since 7 October we had hoped never to see again,’ Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on X, also calling the incidents an antisemitic pogrom.
The surge in antisemitic incidents in the Netherlands is part of a broader trend observed since 7 October 2023. The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), a Dutch–Jewish watchdog group, reported an over 800 per cent increase in antisemitic acts compared to the monthly averages over the past three years. These incidents include vandalism, verbal and physical abuse, intimidation, and bullying.
