The king of the Netherlands has condemned violent attacks on Jewish football fans in Amsterdam on Thursday night, saying his country had “failed” Jews as they had in World War II. His comments came after shocking antisemitic violence erupted after a soccer game between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Dutch capital. Speaking to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, King Willem-Alexander expressed “deep horror and shock,” saying: “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again.” Herzog described the violence—which saw rioters, some of whom were carrying knives and traveling on scooters, attacking Tel Aviv fans while reportedly shouting “free Palestine,” and “now you know how it feels”—as an “antisemitic pogrom.” An estimated 75 percent of the Netherlands’ Jewish population was murdered in the Holocaust when the country was occupied by the Nazis. Five people were taken to hospital on Thursday night, and 62 arrests were made.
