Paris set to host France-Israel football match despite rising tensions

A youth walks outside the training centre of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv (Pic: AFP)

A Nations League football match between France and Israel will go ahead as planned in Paris next week despite the clashes that erupted in Amsterdam following a game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax, the French interior minister said on Friday.

The game at the Stade de France on Thursday has been identified as a potential flashpoint but Bruno Retailleau said France would not 'back down'.

"Some are calling for the France-Israel match to be relocated. I do not accept this," Retailleau wrote on X.

"France is not backing down because that would amount to giving up in the face of threats of violence and anti-Semitism," he added.

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Retailleau said he had asked Paris police chief Laurent Nunez to take the necessary security measures for the match. A lawmaker from Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party, Julien Odoul, on Thursday suggested moving the match to the island of Corsica.

Violence flared in Amsterdam after a Europa League match on Thursday between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli, Dutch, and European leaders on Friday condemned 'anti-Semitic' clashes and Israel sent rescue planes for its citizens.

The mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema said the violence represented an 'explosion' of anti-Semitism that has 'not been seen in a long time', describing 'hit and run' attacks on Maccabi supporters by 'hooligans on scooters'.

Meawnhile, Amsterdam's mayor said Friday that the Dutch counter-terror watchdog said there was no concrete threat to Israeli soccer fans after a game that ended with clashes between the fans and protesters.

The city's acting police chief said at a news conference that the fans were "willfully attacked."

Amsterdam police said Friday that five people were hospitalised and 62 arrested after what authorities described as systematic anti-semitic violence targeting Israeli fans following a soccer match.

(With agency inputs)