Emmanuel Macron will attend the meeting, Israel recommends that its citizens not go

Emmanuel Macron will attend the football match on Thursday which will pit France against Israel under high security at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, the Elysée told AFP on Sunday, confirming information from RTL. According to the entourage of the President of the Republic, this is in particular “to send a message of fraternity and solidarity after the intolerable anti-Semitic acts which followed the match in Amsterdam this week”.

Calls to attack Israelis in several European cities detected

The Paris police chief also detailed this Sunday the security system surrounding the meeting. 4,000 police officers and gendarmes are mobilized, including 2,500 around the Stade de France, 1,500 in Paris and on public transport. Figures which could still change at the start of the week depending on the situation. But at the same time, Israeli authorities on Sunday called on supporters to avoid going to the France-Israel match in Paris, following the violence which occurred in Amsterdam on the sidelines of another sporting meeting.

“The National Security Council recommends that Israelis abroad take precautions (…) particularly during the coming week, to completely avoid going to sporting events and cultural events attended by Israelis , especially at the next match of the Israel team in Paris,” this organization which reports to the Prime Minister’s office said in a press release.

He claims that calls to attack Israelis and members of Jewish communities in several European cities have been detected in recent days and hours. The cities where the danger would be greatest are Amsterdam, once again, but also Brussels, several places in Great Britain and also in Paris. In these different cities, Israelis are strongly recommended to avoid attending cultural or sporting gatherings, including the France-Israel meeting.

It must be said that a reduced number of Israeli supporters had planned to make the trip, not only because of security considerations. The events in Amsterdam, of course, but also the rarity and high cost of flights from Israel due to the state of war. And then, it must be said, the mediocre performances of the national football team. According to a site specializing in sports news, only a few dozen tickets reserved for Israel supporters have been sold. Information reported even before the publication of the warnings, both precise and worrying, from the National Security Council.