The attack on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam is a sign of increasing anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, says Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
– I am ashamed of what happened in the Netherlands, he said, according to Reuters, to journalists in connection with the EU summit in Hungary’s capital, Budapest.
– It has been a terrible night.
Schoof adds that he will leave the summit early Friday afternoon to return to Amsterdam.
Schoof had previously condemned the “unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis” in a post on X. He has spoken with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Geert Wilders, a political leader on the extreme right in the Netherlands, has described the attacks as “a pogrom”.
– We have become Europe’s Gaza, he says and adds that Muslims with Palestinian flags chased Jews through the streets of Amsterdam.
On Friday afternoon, the first flight with evacuated Israelis landed at the airport in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, writes AFP.
The state-owned Israeli airline, El Al, announced earlier on Friday that three planes would be sent to the Netherlands to bring Israelis home from the Netherlands.
It comes after violent attacks on Israeli football fans after a match between the Dutch football club Ajax and the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In a post on Facebook, El Al writes that the first of the three flights will land in Tel Aviv on Friday and the last on Sunday morning.
The company’s chairman, Amikam Ben Zvi, states according to AFP that there will be doctors and other health personnel on board the three planes.
In addition, Israeli citizens have the opportunity to fly for free on the departures already scheduled on regular scheduled flights.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced early Friday afternoon that the Israelis who were reported missing in Amsterdam have now been accounted for.
– All the Israelis who were injured and taken to the hospital have been discharged, announces the ministry.
/ritzau/
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
