The new head of Israeli diplomacy, Gideon Saar, is soon going to Amsterdam for an urgent diplomatic visit, after the conflict over the football match between Ajax and Maccabi from Tel Aviv played last night within the Europa League.
"In light of the difficult events, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar will soon embark on an urgent diplomatic visit to the Netherlands," his ministry announced.
The first plane intended to bring back Israeli fans from Amsterdam after yesterday's clashes took off from Ben Gurion Airport, a spokeswoman for the Israeli airport administration told AFP. The plane is expected in Amsterdam already in the first afternoon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned as a premeditated anti-Semitic attack, the night's violence against Israeli fans in Amsterdam after the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi from Tel Aviv.
In a phone conversation this morning with his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoff, Netanyahu said he "views with the utmost seriousness the premeditated anti-Semitic attack against Israeli citizens and has requested increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands," the Israeli Prime Minister's office said.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned the anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis in Amsterdam this morning on the X network, said that he was horrified and that what happened was unacceptable.
"I am in close contact with everyone involved. Netanyahu insisted that the perpetrators of these crimes be found and prosecuted," Schoff wrote, adding that it is now calm in Amsterdam.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters last night before and after the Europa League match between their team and Ajax outside Ajax's stadium in Amsterdam, media and officials reported.
Clashes reportedly broke out, even though Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema banned the demonstration, fearing that clashes with fans of an Israeli football club could break out.
Police in Amsterdam were deployed in large numbers for the day of the match yesterday, the Dutch agency ANP reported.
The Israeli Prime Minister immediately reacted fiercely and said that he was sending two planes to pick up Israeli citizens, and that "the grave images of aggression against Israeli citizens in Amsterdam will not be ignored."
"The Prime Minister ordered the immediate dispatch of two planes to help our citizens," the office of the Prime Minister of Israel announced this morning and added that he views this terrible incident with the utmost seriousness, reported the Agence France-Presse.
The Israeli military said it was preparing a "rescue mission" to send a cargo plane and medical teams.
During the afternoon yesterday, about a hundred Israeli fans gathered at Dam Square surrounded by a large number of policemen before going to the "Johan Cruyff" stadium in the southeast of the city.
Yesterday, the police announced on their X network account that they are on special alert after several incidents were reported, including the removal and desecration of a Palestinian flag from the facade of a building.
A large number of police vehicles were at that place and reinforcements were called, and the youth also provoked the police, local media AT5 reported.
AT5 broadcast footage of the Israeli fans being escorted to their hotel by the police.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens reach the airport safely.
Sar said this to his Dutch colleague Kaspar Veldkamp in a telephone conversation today.
Israel condemned the violence against its fans, calling it terrifying.
62 people were arrested, five were transferred to hospitals
The Dutch police announced today that 62 people were arrested, while five were taken to the hospital, after the clashes that started after the football match between Ajax and Maccabi from Tel Aviv.
"So far it is known that five people have been transferred to the hospital, and 62 people have been arrested," the Amsterdam police announced on the social network Ix (formerly Twitter).
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