Israel did not brief Dutch on football match risk, minister says

The Israeli secret service did not brief the Netherlands on any risks surrounding last week’s football match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax, justice minister David van Weel confirmed on Monday.

Israel has claimed that the Dutch security services were warned about the match. However, Van Weel said security service and police records had been checked and no such warnings have been found.

“If I had found something, I would have said so,” he said. “We are still checking because I want to be sure we have not missed anything, but so far we have drawn a blank.”

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said on Friday that the counter-terrorism unit NCTV was unaware of any concrete threats. However,  the agency had said action would be needed to ensure there was no trouble, in particular given the combination of football and commemorations for Kristallnacht.

In total, 800 police officers were on duty and six riot police squads, an “extraordinary” number by Amsterdam standards, she said.

The run-up to the match was marred by several incidents involving Maccabi supporters and afterward, there were a number of “hit and run” attacks on fans of the Israeli side, officials say.

Although 62 people were arrested on Thursday, no arrests were made in the trouble on Thursday night, Van Weel said.

The cabinet is meeting on Monday afternoon to discuss the events of last week and possible measures to tackle anti-Semitism.