The Dutch government is investigating if possible warning signs from Israel were missed in the events leading up to this week’s assaults on Israeli soccer fans, Justice Minister David van Weel said in a letter to Parliament.
He said the investigation would also examine whether the assaults were organized, with an antisemitic motive.
‘Horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens’
Political leaders have already denounced the attacks as antisemitic. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on Friday he was “horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens” and had assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone that “the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted.”
Israel sent extra planes to The Netherlands to bring fans home, but a Dutch government spokesperson could not immediately confirm how many people made use of this.
Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza after the attacks on Israel by terrorists in October last year, with many Jewish organizations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.
