Israel to Collect Soccer Fans from Amsterdam after 5 Injured

In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the soccer stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)
In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the soccer stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)
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Israel to Collect Soccer Fans from Amsterdam after 5 Injured

In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the soccer stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)
In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the soccer stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)

Israel was sending two commercial planes to the Netherlands on Friday to repatriate hundreds of Israeli soccer fans after overnight attacks in the streets of Amsterdam that officials described as antisemitic.
Videos on social media showed riot police intervening in clashes, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were "attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks" and that riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels. At least five people were treated in hospital, she said.
Security measures were increased in the city, where hundreds gathered on Thursday to remember Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany on Nov. 9-10, 1938.
Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas group on Oct. 7, 2023, with many Jewish organizations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the order to send planes was taken after "a very violent incident" targeting Israeli citizens after the match between Maccabi and Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club.
"This is a serious incident, a warning sign for any country that wishes to uphold the values of freedom," it said.
A video verified by Reuters showed a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and assaulting other men, as police sirens sounded.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was "horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens", which he called "completely unacceptable".
Schoof said he had assured Netanyahu by phone that "the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted".

Police said there had been incidents before the game, for which roughly 3,000 Maccabi supporters travelled to Amsterdam.
The Israeli embassy in The Hague said mobs had chanted anti-Israel slogans and shared videos of their violence on social media, "kicking, beating, even running over Israeli citizens".

Police said 62 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Arena, even though the city had forbidden a protest there.

They said fans had left the stadium without incident after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, but that clashes erupted overnight in the city center.

The Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia said two rescue flights were on the way to Amsterdam.



Erdogan Invites Trump to Visit Türkiye

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with US President Donald Trump during the NATO summit in London, Britain, December 4, 2019. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with US President Donald Trump during the NATO summit in London, Britain, December 4, 2019. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
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Erdogan Invites Trump to Visit Türkiye

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with US President Donald Trump during the NATO summit in London, Britain, December 4, 2019. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with US President Donald Trump during the NATO summit in London, Britain, December 4, 2019. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

President Tayyip Erdogan sought to reset Türkiye's strained ties with the United States by inviting President-elect Donald Trump to visit, and said Trump spoke very positively about Türkiye during a phone call.

Trump's election victory this week was generally met with cheer in NATO-member Türkiye, with markets rallying and some officials cautiously optimistic about prospects for new US economic policies.

Erdogan told reporters on a flight back from a European summit in Budapest that he hoped Trump would accept the invitation.

He said he hoped a visit would strengthen cooperation between Türkiye and the United States and lead to a relationship "different from (Trump's) previous term", when clashes on a number of issues led to Washington imposing punitive tariffs that hurt Türkiye's economy.

"We had a sincere call with Mr. Trump while he was at a family dinner (that included) Elon Musk and Musk's child," Erdogan said of the Wednesday call, according to an official Turkish readout.

"He had very nice things to say about Türkiye regarding the period ahead. We invited him to our country. I hope he accepts..."

Ankara's cooperation with Trump's White House could also help solve regional crises, added Erdogan, who has led Türkiye for more than 21 years in what opponents call an increasingly authoritarian style, accusations he denies.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden did not visit Türkiye during his term and Erdogan's planned White House visit early this year fell through with little explanation, underlining the cool relations.

While Erdogan and Trump had closer personal bonds in Trump's 2017-21 term as president, it was also a period of strained bilateral ties due to disputes over Washington's ties with Kurdish fighters in Syria and over Ankara's ties with Moscow.

An official in Erdogan's AK Party told Reuters that Ankara expects the Trump administration to be more flexible and understanding of its security needs, especially against the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) in Syria and Iraq.

After Trump's election win, Türkiye's lira touched its strongest level in weeks, while Istanbul stocks have since risen more than 5%.

Trade Minister Omer Bolat said on Thursday he expected Trump to lower tariffs on Türkiye's steel and textile exports, even as Trump has promised to levy 10% tariffs on all imported goods.

The fallout still lingers from clashes between Türkiye's and the United States during Trump's first term, when Washington was angered by Türkiye's purchase of a Russian missile defense system and the jailing of US citizens including a pastor.

The Turkish economy bore the brunt of the strains, including higher tariffs on metal imports imposed by Trump in 2018, contributing to the first in a series of lira currency crises that set off years of soaring inflation.

The strains grew in 2019 as Türkiye launched an incursion against a Syrian Kurdish militia that Ankara calls a terrorist group but which is a US ally against ISIS.

At the time, Trump threatened to "totally destroy and obliterate" Türkiye's economy over the operation. He sent Erdogan a letter saying: "You don't want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don't want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy - and I will."

Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and director of the Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM) said Ankara would probably be happy with a Trump victory in the short term, making it easier to open dialogue after the stand-offish Biden years.

But broader foreign policy differences on issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Syria could still become thorny in the long term, he added.

"Ankara will try to create an agenda aimed at a reset in Turkish-American ties. This can easily turn into a more transactional relationship that Trump can get on board with," he said. "What the United States' expectation will be of Türkiye in such a relationship, that needs to be cleared up."