Jewish and Israeli leaders condemn anti-Semitic attacks in the Netherlands

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Israeli leaders and international Jewish figures have reacted with horror to the scenes of violent anti-Semitism that unfolded in Amsterdam on Thursday night after a soccer match between Maccabi TLV and Ajax.

The pogrom against Israeli fans, which left several injured and three missing, is now apparently under control, according to Dutch officials.

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) called the attacks on Israeli soccer fans “a new Kristallnacht.”

“Exactly 86 years after Kristallnacht, when Nazis, together with ordinary Germans, hunted Jews through the streets of Europe, we see their ideological heirs rampage through the streets of Amsterdam again, trying to spill Jewish blood,” said CEO of CAM Sacha Roytman Dratwa.

“Thousands of Islamists, who are today’s neo-Nazis in ideology and action, clearly targeted Jews in a premeditated and organized manner in what feels to many like a loud echo from history.”

Dratwa emphasized one difference between 1939 and today: the State of Israel.

Pro-Palestinians demonstrate at Anton de Komplein Square in Amsterdam ahead of the UEFA Europa League soccer match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on November 7, 2024. (Credit: JEROEN JUMELET/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

“The Jews will not wait as they did in ’39,” added Dratwa. “They go away and leave you to deal with the extremism that has been allowed to fester.”

Jews first, West second

Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, expressed a similar sentiment, writing that “This is not only an injury to Jews and Israelis, but a warning sign to all European countries against radical Muslim violence. Those who turn a blind eye to Islamic terrorism in the Middle East, will meet it at home in Europe and the West.”

“Today the victims were Israelis; tomorrow it is you Europeans.”

The president of United Haztalah, Eli Beer, said: “This is what happens when terrorists are allowed into Europe.”

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“Tonight, in central Amsterdam, young Jews were attacked by Palestinians, subjected to attempted lynchings. The police were absent or arrived late. This is happening in the heart of Europe, and this is only the beginning. In Israel, we confront this daily, but now it is spreading to Europe.”

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon spoke about the situation and called on the UN to condemn the pogrom.

“These are the true faces of the supporters of the radical terrorism we fight,” he wrote.

“The Western world must wake up now!! This is the time when the UN should immediately and clearly condemn the violence of the Palestinians and their supporters. The Dutch authorities must take decisive action against terrorism now.”

Former war minister Benny Gantz said the pogrom “penetrates the soul of every Jew with difficult images that remind us of dark and painful days.”

He asked the Dutch government to do everything it could to protect Israelis with all the means at its disposal from the anti-Semitic terrorists.

“These shocking anti-Semitic attacks on the streets of a European city should be a wake-up call to Dutch and European authorities about where uncontrolled anti-Israel demonstrations are leading,” said the president of the European Jewish Congress Dr. Ariel the Musician.

“We are deeply shocked that such a pogrom can take place on the streets of Europe, where Israelis seem to offer little protection, but we are fully aware that these attacks do not happen in a vacuum and come against the backdrop of widespread demonstrations of anti-Jewish and Israeli hatred on the streets of European capitals, imitating the Hamas pogrom of Israelis last October 7”, said Muzicant.

Shir Perets contributed to this report.