Israeli ministers have hit out at Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema for backtracking on her use of the word pogrom when talking about the trouble around the Ajax Maccabi Tel Aviv football match on November 7.

Halsema told current affairs show Nieuwsuur on Sunday night that she had wanted to emphasise the sadness and fear experienced by Jewish Amsterdammers. “But I have to say that in the following days, I saw how the word pogrom became politicised, to the level of propaganda.

“The Israeli government spoke of a ‘Palestinian pogrom on the streets of Amsterdam’ and in The Hague the words were used to discriminate against Moroccan Amsterdammers, Muslims. That is not what I meant or what I wanted.”

She had said at a press conference the day after the match in Amsterdam that boys on scooters crossed the city in search of Israeli football supporters and mounted “hit and run” attacks. “I can well understand that this brings back memories of pogroms,” she said.

“Mrs Halsema,” wrote diaspora minister Amichai Chikli on social media, with a link to Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, “there is no need to insist on the word ‘pogrom’. The event can also be referred to as a planned terror attack. One thing is certain, for three hours an Islamo-Nazi mob ruled Amsterdam city centre while your police forces stood by.”

Foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar, who visited the Netherlands the day after the match, said on social media that Halsema’s statement was “utterly unacceptable”.

“Hundreds of Israeli fans who came to watch a football match were pursued and attacked, targeted by a mob asking for their passports to check if they were citizens of the Jewish state,” he said, also linking to Wilders and other right-wing politicians in the Netherlands. “There is no other word for this than a pogrom… We will never again accept the persecution of Jews on the soil of Europe or anywhere else.”

Meanwhile, police have said they have 45 people on their list of suspects for the post-match violence, including several Israeli nationals.Ten were among the original list of 62 arrestees.

Investigation

Police and justice ministry officials are still investigating exactly what happened, but Halsema said on Sunday there is no evidence so far for claims that mobs were waiting outside hotels where Israelis were staying to attack them.

No figures have yet been published either about the number of people who were attacked in “hit and run” incidents, or how many Israelis were among the victims. Five people were taken to hospital overnight.

Social media

During the interview with Nieuwsuur Halsema also described how Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu began tweeting about the problems in the early hours of the morning.

“We were completely overtaken by Israel,” she said.  “At 3 am Israeli prime minister Netanyahu suddenly gave a lecture about what had happened in Amsterdam, while we were still gathering the facts.”

Horrifying incident

Netanyahu said on social media that morning what happened was a “horrifying incident” and demanded “that the Dutch government and security forces take vigorous and swift action against the rioters, and ensure the safety of our citizens”.

He also said two planes were being dispatched to the Netherlands to bring back Israeli supporters.

According to newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli national security council also issued emergency instructions to Israelis in the city, telling them to stay in their hotel rooms and avoid displaying anything that could identify them as Jewish or Israeli.

No contact

Meanwhile, home affairs minister Judith Uitermark has confirmed again that no signals about the threat of violence were received by the Dutch security services, despite Israeli claims. Neither the AIVD or the counter terrorism unit NCTV received any information from Israel, she said.

In addition, there was no exchange of information via formal channels with the Israeli authorities on the night of November 7, she said.

The Israeli embassy did share information with the police on November 7 ahead of the match but “this specifically referred to risks around the demonstration planned for 7 pm near the Johan Cruijff stadium,” she told MPs in a briefing.