Dutch ministers on Friday criticized the “undesirable” manner in which Israel publicized a report accusing six pro-Palestinian groups of fomenting violence against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam earlier this month.
The report by the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs was “made public via social media,” two Dutch ministers said in a letter to parliament.
“The report points to a supposed major, inciting and organizing role of the Palestinian Community Netherlands (PGNL) foundation in these acts of violence,” the Netherlands’ Justice Minister David van Weel and Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp said.
“None of these allegations, nor any substantiation thereof, were shared with the Dutch authorities via formal channels,” they said.
The report, dated November 10, was also in possession of several Dutch lawmakers ahead of a debate in the Netherlands’ parliament three days later, local media reports said.
“For the individuals in question and the organizations they represent, such public accusations can have negative consequences,” the ministers said.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp looks on as he addresses a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (not in picture) after talks at the Foreign Office in Berlin on July 23, 2024. (Ralf Hirschberger / AFP)
It also went against Dutch “principles of our democratic legal order,” they said.
“The government finds the manner in which the Israeli ministry’s report was distributed unusual and, given the possible negative consequences for Dutch residents, undesirable,” Van Weel and Veldkamp said.
The ministers said they have spoken with Israeli counterparts about the matter.
Supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv were assaulted in various parts of Amsterdam on November 7 following the soccer team’s loss to local team Ajax.
After the game, youths on scooters engaged in “hit-and-run” assaults on Maccabi fans, Dutch officials said. Some social media posts had included calls to “hunt Jews,” according to police. Footage also circulated on social media apparently showing Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab slogans and tearing down Palestinian flags ahead of the game.
People welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans as they arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport on a flight from Amsterdam, where Israeli soccer fans were attacked following a match between the club and Ajax Amsterdam, November 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Israeli officials said 10 Maccabi fans were injured in the violence. Hundreds more Israelis huddled in their hotels for hours, fearing they could be attacked. Many said that Dutch security forces were nowhere to be found, as Israeli tourists were ambushed by gangs of masked assailants shouting anti-Israel slogans.
The violence sparked outrage in Israel and among Dutch politicians, who described them as antisemitic. Coalition leaders’ accusations that the assailants were of Moroccan descent briefly sent the Netherlands’ government teetering after a Moroccan-born deputy minister resigned in protest.
The violence sent shockwaves through Amsterdam’s small Jewish community, prompting some to consider emigration to Israel. Violence against Jews has surged in the Netherlands since October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
