'A new Kristallnacht': Jewish, Israeli figures express horror over Amsterdam pogrom

Israeli leaders and international Jewish figures have reacted with horror to the scenes of violent antisemitism that unfolded in Amsterdam on Thursday night following a soccer match between Maccabi TLV and Ajax.

Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), said, “We are forced to witness as Jewish blood is once again shed with impunity.

“I call, in the strongest and most unequivocal terms, on the leaders of the world: The responsibility for the safety of Jews in your countries is yours alone.”

The Combat Antisemitism Movement called the attacks on Israeli soccer fans “a new Kristallnacht.”

“Exactly 86 years after Kristallnacht, when Nazis, along with ordinary Germans, hunted Jews through the streets of Europe, we see their ideological heirs rampaging through the streets of Amsterdam once again seeking to spill Jewish blood,” said CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa.

“Thousands of Islamists, who are today’s neo-Nazis in ideology and action, in a clearly premeditated and organized fashion, targeted Jews in what feels to many as a loud echo from history.”

Dratwa stressed a difference between 1939 and today, however: the State of Israel.

“The Jews won’t wait around like they did in 1939,” he said. “They’ll leave, leaving you to deal with the extremism that has been allowed to fester.”

Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs, said: “These acts are a mark of shame on The Netherlands and Europe and are reminiscent of scenes we thought had been consigned to history.”

Yahly Bar-Lev, executive director of StandWithUs Netherlands, added that his organization was on the ground with Israelis, ensuring they got to safety.

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt said, “This is what ‘globalize the intifada’ looks like. It is particularly haunting that on the eve of Kristallnacht, Jews on the streets of Amsterdam were hunted, chased, attacked, and forced to hide from an antisemitic mob whose goal was to harm as many Jews as possible.

“We welcome the strong condemnations from Dutch leaders, including the poignant statement by King Willem-Alexander, who said, ‘Last night we failed the Jews again,’” Greenblatt said. “However, more must be done by authorities in Amsterdam, and indeed around the world, to protect Jews from this violent hatred.”

The ADL called on Dutch authorities to openly examine how prepared law enforcement was before and after the match, why authorities have failed to make further arrests and to investigate those who organized the attacks.

Jews first, West next

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir expressed a similar sentiment, writing, “This is not only an injury to Jews and Israelis, but a warning sign to all European countries against radical Muslim violence. Those who turn a blind eye to Islamic terrorism in the Middle East will meet it at home in Europe and the West.

“Today, the victims were Israelis,” he said, warning that “tomorrow it will be you, Europeans.”

The president of United Hatzalah, Eli Beer, said, “This is what happens when terrorists are allowed into Europe.”

“Tonight, in central Amsterdam, young Jews were attacked by Palestinians, facing attempted lynching. The police were absent or arrived too late. This is happening in the heart of Europe, and it’s only the beginning. In Israel, we confront this daily, but now it’s spreading to Europe.”

Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon addressed the situation, calling for the UN to condemn the pogrom.

“These are the true faces of the supporters of the radical terrorism we are fighting,” he wrote.

“The Western world needs to wake up now!! This is the time when the UN should immediately and clearly condemn the violence of the Palestinians and their supporters. The Dutch authorities must take decisive action against terrorism now.”

Former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said that the lynch “penetrates the soul of every Jew, with difficult images that remind us of dark and painful days.”

He asked the Dutch government to do everything it could to protect Israelis with all the means at its disposal against the antisemitic terrorists.

“These shocking antisemitic attacks on the streets of a European city should be a wake-up call to Dutch and European authorities about where uncontrolled anti-Israel demonstrations lead,” said Dr. Ariel Muzicant, president of the European Jewish Congress.

 “We are deeply shocked that such a pogrom can take place on the streets of Europe with Israelis apparently offered little protection, but we are fully aware that these attacks do not occur in a vacuum and come against a background of wide-scale displays of anti-Jewish and Israeli hate on the streets of European capitals, mimicking the Hamas pogrom of Israelis on October 7 last year,” Muzicant said.

The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Phil Rosenberg, said he would be speaking to British police and government officials over the coming days to ensure such a “pogrom” would not be repeated in the UK.

In a joint statement, Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands Binyomin Jacobs, president of IPOR Jewish Communities Ellen Van Praagh, and chairman of the European Jewish Association Rabbi Menachem Margolin said that the attacks on Thursday were “the strongest example of the extreme antisemitism, the all-pervading Jew-hatred, that is running like a cancer throughout the continent.

“People roaming the streets in masks asking people if they were Jewish, then assaulting them and throwing them into canals: This is Europe now in 2024.”

The statement referred to this antisemitism as a “cancer” that “requires immediate surgery.”

“These assaults are not an isolated incident. It is part of a much bigger picture of Jew-hate since October 7 in the Netherlands, Jews cannot take public transport, they are fearful.”

“We say to the Dutch government and governments across Europe: Wake up,” the statement concluded. “It cannot be business as usual from now on when it comes to fighting antisemitism.”

Adding to the list of condemnations, the Jewish Federation stated they were “horrified and outraged at the hate-filled antisemitic attacks in Amsterdam, in which anti-Israel mobs terrorized and beat Israelis and Jews trying to enjoy a soccer game.

“This modern-day pogrom, just two days before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, should make it clear that the entire world must act now to condemn and prosecute to the fullest all the perpetrators and take every necessary step to protect the Jewish community,” the federation said.

“We are in close contact with our partners in Israel and the Jewish Agency for Israel as we continue our commitment to the security of Jewish communities around the world.”

'Horrified' by the attacks 

The Orthodox Union added, “We are horrified by the organized and vicious antisemitic attack on Israelis in Amsterdam.

“Coming days before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, it is time for world leaders and individuals of conscience to recognize that brazen attacks against Jews are what protesters are calling for when they chant ‘globalize the intifada,” the OU said.

“While we appreciate that leaders in the Netherlands and Europe have rightly condemned this brazen attack, it demands more than statements. It demands that governments take new and concrete actions – both proactive and reactive – to stop this scourge, protect Jews, and prosecute those who criminally attack us,” the union said.

“‘Never again’ is not a prophecy or a prediction; it is a pledge and a commitment to stand up against antisemitic violence. This commitment cannot come only from Israel and the Jewish community: It must be the commitment of every government, all law enforcement officials, and every person of good faith in every country in our world.”

Shir Perets contributed to this report.