NOS News•today, 2:09 PM
In the wake of the violence against Israelis in Amsterdam, Israel issued a striking warning last night. Israelis are advised not to attend sporting or cultural events abroad in the coming weeks. Israel says it has indications that these may be used to attack fellow countrymen.
In a statement, the Israeli Security Council mentions meetings in British cities, Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris. Eyes are now mainly on the French capital, where the Israeli national football team will play against France on Thursday.
In Paris, people are already taking precautions:
Tension in Paris around the match against Israel: ‘Shop closed is not surprising after Amsterdam’
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has said the competition will go ahead. “We must not be deterred,” he said, adding that a range of security measures will be in place.
Massive police deployment
The Parisian police deploy 4,000 officers. 2,500 of them will operate around the stadium, the other 1,500 in other places in the city, for example on public transport. Furthermore, another 1,600 supervisors are deployed for the competition.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez says violence will not be accepted. An area will be designated around the stadium in which the strictest anti-terror measures apply. This includes large-scale body searches and bag searches.
In Amsterdam things went wrong after the Israeli fans returned to the center after the match against Ajax.
President Macron plans to attend the match in Paris on Thursday. According to one of his employees, his presence should be seen as “a message of brotherhood and solidarity after the unacceptable anti-Semitic actions” in Amsterdam.
Lone wolves
Warnings are regularly given in Israel to be alert abroad, but today’s warning is worded in a remarkably broad manner. “Pro-Palestinian/terrorism supporters”, as the Israeli authorities put it, would like to commit violence against Israelis under the guise of protests and demonstrations. Also loners, or ‘lone wolves‘, can strike amid protests, the statement said.
The advice is not only to stay away from events and protests, but also not to be visible as an Israeli or Jew. For example, it is advised not to order a taxi in your own name, but to do so through, for example, the hotel where someone is staying.
Thursday’s match is not the only event in Paris that is causing concern. The day before there is a gala of a pro-Israel organization with ties to extremist Israeli settlers. The right-wing Israeli Zionist youth association Betar has also called on Jews to protest against anti-Semitism that day.
The gala’s guest list also includes the ultra-right Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich, who openly says he wants to expel Palestinians from Israeli-occupied territories. He is strongly opposed to an agreement with Hamas and wants Israel to continue fighting, even if it is at the expense of the hostages. Last year he called for the destruction of a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank after Hamas killed two settlers there. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz described him as a war criminal.
The meeting to which Smotrich has been invited is private, but in France the Jewish community has called on him to stay away. In an article in the newspaper Le Monde, representatives of religious and cultural Jewish organizations condemned Smotrich’s arrival in Paris. It is unclear whether Smotrich will actually come.
