Amsterdam — Antisemitic rioters “actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them” after a soccer match in Amsterdam, authorities in the Netherlands said Friday, with police reporting five people hospitalized and 62 detained after a night of violence between. The police did not mention the nationality of any of those injured or arrested after the scenes of chaos in the Dutch capital. 

Israel’s government said it was helping coordinate flights home for Israeli fans caught up in the violence.

Israel was “doing everything to ensure the safety and security of our citizens who were brutally attacked in the horrific anti-Semitic incident in Amsterdam,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “It was decided that it was not necessary to send a professional rescue mission to the Netherlands. Instead, the effort will be focused on providing civil aviation solutions for the recovery of our citizens.”

Israel’s airports authority said the first of two planes being sent to bring citizens of the country home had departed from Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv and was expected to arrive in Amsterdam within a few hours.

Dutch leaders also condemned the violence against the Israeli fans as antisemitic.

The attacks on fans of soccer club Maccabi Tel Aviv came after a Europa League soccer match between their team and the local Amsterdam team Ajax, but there had been clashes between the Israeli fans and locals before the game, too. 

The violence erupted despite a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the soccer stadium imposed by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, who’d feared clashes would break out between protesters and supporters of the Israeli club.

The violent clashes reportedly occurred around midnight local time, with numerous fights and acts of vandalism in central Amsterdam. 

There were clashes before the game, too, as Maccabi fans were among hundreds to march through central Amsterdam in a pro-Israel demonstration, during which flares were lit and Palestinian flags hung on some streets were reportedly torn down amid chants of “death to the Arabs.” 

In an earlier statement, Netanyahu’s office had said that the prime minister ordered two “rescue planes” to be sent to Amseterdam to evacuate Israeli citizens, but that decision was later reversed. Netanyahu’s office also barred any members of the country’s military from flying to the Netherlands for an indefinite period.

“The harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that Israel’s government “views the premeditated antisemitic attack against Israeli citizens with utmost gravity.” 

Netanyahu’s office demanded the Dutch government take “vigorous and swift action” against those involved.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on social media that he followed reports of the violence “with horror.”

“Completely unacceptable antisemitic attacks on Israelis. I am in close contact with everyone involved,” he added, saying he’d spoken with Netanyahu and “emphasized that the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted. It is now quiet in the capital.”

In a post on the social media platform X, Israeli President Isaac Herzog Israel denounced the attacks as a “pogrom,” referring to the historic racist attacks on Jews in Russia and eastern Europe, and said they were reminiscent of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel that sparked Israel’s ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington said on X that “hundreds” of Maccabi fans were “ambushed and attacked in Amsterdam tonight as they left the stadium following a game,” according to AFP. The embassy blamed the violence on a “mob who targeted innocent Israelis.”

Geert Wilders, the far-right nationalist lawmaker whose Party for Freedom won elections in the Netherlands last year and who’s a staunch ally of Israel, reacted to a video apparently showing a Maccabi fan being surrounded by several men.

“Looks like a Jew hunt in the streets of Amsterdam. Arrest and deport the multicultural scum that attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in our streets. Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable,” Wilders said.

Amsterdam — Leaders of Israel and the Netherlands on Friday condemned what they called antisemitic attacks on fans of soccer club Maccabi Tel Aviv before and after a Europa League soccer match between their team and Ajax, and Israel said it was sending planes to fly supporters home from the Dutch capital.

The violence erupted Thursday despite a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the soccer stadium imposed by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, who’d feared clashes would break out between protesters and supporters of the Israeli soccer club.

Amsterdam police had no immediate comment on the violence or numbers of arrests and injuries.

But Halsema said supporters of the Israeli team were hurt and the extent of the violence and number of arrests were still being sorted out, according to the Reuters news agency.

Agence France-Presse reported that  a Dutch police spokesperson told the Dutch ANP news agency 57 people had been arrested.

AFP said social media platforms were inundated with unverified images supposedly showing the violence, but authorities offered few confirmed details.

AFP said AT5 reported that the clashes occurred around midnight with numerous fights and acts of vandalism in the center of Amsterdam. “A large number of mobile unit vehicles are present and reinforcements have also been called in,” AT5 said.

Details were unclear, but Israel ordered that two planes be sent to the Dutch capital to bring the Israelis home.

“The Prime Minister has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist our citizens,” said a statement from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

It added that “the harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked,” and that Netanyahu “views the premeditated antisemitic attack against Israeli citizens with utmost gravity.” He demanded that the Dutch government take “vigorous and swift action” against those involved.

Netanyahu’s office added that he had called for increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on X that he followed reports of the violence “with horror.”

“Completely unacceptable antisemitic attacks on Israelis. I am in close contact with everyone involved,” he added, saying that he had spoken to Netanyahu and “emphasized that the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted. It is now quiet in the capital.”

The Israeli Embassy in Washington said on the social media platform X that “hundreds” of Maccabi fans were “ambushed and attacked in Amsterdam tonight as they left the stadium following a game,” according to AFP. The embassy blamed the violence on a “mob who targeted innocent Israelis.”

Geert Wilders, the hard right nationalist lawmaker whose Party for Freedom won elections in the Netherlands last year and who is a staunch ally of Israel, reacted to a video apparently showing a Maccabi fan being surrounded by several men.

“Looks like a Jew hunt in the streets of Amsterdam. Arrest and deport the multicultural scum that attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in our streets. Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable,” Wilders said.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also condemned the violence in a post on the social media platform X.