Jewish groups in the Netherlands are concerned about the decision of the public prosecution department to release the man who smashed the windows of an Israeli restaurant in Amsterdam from custody, the Telegraaf said on Monday.

The man, a 29-year-old Palestinian, broke several windows at the Hacarmel restaurant and attempted to make off with an Israeli flag before being arrested by police. He has since been released from custody.

The man, who has a residency permit, is being charged with the destruction of property and theft, and this means that he has to be released, the public prosecution department told the Telegraaf.

The man issued a lengthy statement via his lawyer on Friday in which he accepted full responsibility for his actions which he says were out of desperation for the situation in Palestine, rather than being anti-semitic.

Trial

But Jewish groups and the restaurant’s owner Daniel Bar-On say the man should be kept in jail until his trial.

Aggression

‘Look at the aggression the attack involved,’ Esther Voet, of the Nieuw Israelitisch Weekblad told the paper. ‘What would have happened if there had been people in the restaurant?’

There is a feeling within the Jewish community that the incident is being played down to maintain peace in the city, she said. ‘That only increases the mistrust and anger within the [Jewish] community.’

‘This does not enhance the sense of safety,’ said Hanna Luden, spokeswoman for the Israel information centre CIDI. ‘The suspect has been banned from returning to the area but how does a person wearing a yarmulke know he can walk on the street in safety?’

Threatening

Historian Remco Ensel told current affairs show Nieuwsuur on Sunday evening that the attack on the restaurant and the weekend’s attack on a synagogue in Sweden should not be dismissed as ‘incidental protests against Israel.’

‘Every act of violence is more biting and more threatening because of terrorism,’ he said. ‘The situation is more threatening and worrisome than it used to be.’

Dutch rabbi Lody van de Kamp told the programme: ‘It is a given that we Jews are not safe. That is what we live with. And Trump’s statements have deepened the unease.’

The attack on the Israeli restaurant came a day after Trump declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel.