France increases security ahead of football match with Israel

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French authorities have bolstered security plans for a football match on Thursday between its national team and Israel as they seek to prevent similar violence to the attacks on Israeli fans in Amsterdam last week.

President Emmanuel Macron has announced he will attend the game to “send a message of fraternity and solidarity after the intolerable antisemitic acts” that last week followed a Europa League match between Amsterdam’s Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The upcoming match will be a major test for France, which is home to the biggest Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe and where conflicts in the Middle East have historically reverberated in the form of protests and increased antisemitic incidents.

Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent bombing of Gaza, tensions have brewed across Europe as pro-Palestinian protests have spread.

Laurent Nuñez, the police chief of the Paris region, said “extremely reinforced measures” would be put in place taking into account lessons from Amsterdam, namely that violent attacks took place not only at the stadium, but also around the city and on public transport.

“We need to be present all over . . . in the centre of Paris,” he told BFMTV on Sunday. “Incidents could potentially happen anywhere.”

A force of 2,500 police officers will be deployed to the Stade de France on the northern edge of Paris, while 1,500 others will be present on public transport and fanned out across the capital.

The force is double the size of the usual deployment of up to 2,000 officers for so-called high-risk matches.

Some 1,600 private security guards will also be deployed to the stadium.

“Spectators going to this match will have complete security,” Nuñez said. “We will not tolerate any disturbances, any disruptions.”

The decision to hold the France vs Israel match in front of fans and not behind closed doors was made by Bruno Retailleau, minister of interior, and approved by Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

They opted against moving the Uefa League match to a neutral country, as Turkey did for an upcoming game between Istanbul’s Beşiktaş and Maccabi Tel Aviv later this month, which will be played in Hungary with no spectators.

“France does not back down, since that would amount to surrendering to threats of violence and to antisemitism,” Retailleau said. “We are in France, and I want a football match, even if it’s France-Israel, to be able to take place under normal conditions.”

Former French presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande are also planning to attend the highly symbolic event.

Ticket sales have been muted, with only some 20,000 sold for the stadium that has a capacity of about 80,000.

Multiple violent incidents occurred in Amsterdam on Thursday before and after the Ajax-Maccabi match, with five people taken to hospital and later discharged.

Israeli fans were chased through the streets and beaten up, according to Dutch authorities. Maccabi fans had also torn down a Palestinian flag and shouted anti-Arab slogans, the police said.

Israeli authorities on Sunday urged the country’s citizens to take precautions when travelling abroad and “to totally avoid sporting or cultural events in which Israelis are taking part, especially the upcoming match of the Israel national team in Paris”.

Jean-Christophe Couvy, a police union leader, said he was confident the police could secure the match and the city on Thursday, using a plan that was similar to the one implemented during the Paris Olympics.

“If you put a big number of police on the street, you occupy the ground and prevent things from getting out of hand,” Couvy said.