On the social media platform Telegram, “there is talk of people going on a Jew hunt,” Halsema said. “It’s so shocking and so despicable that I still can’t get over it.” The Dutch Minister of Justice and Security, David van Weel, promised to track down and prosecute the perpetrators.

Police had to escort some fans back to hotels, according to authorities.

Ofek Ziv, a Maccabi fan from the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, said someone threw a rock at his head, causing slight bleeding, as he and a friend left the stadium. He said a group of men started following him, before he and his friend got into a taxi, picked up other fans and took shelter at a hotel.

“I’m very scared, it’s very striking,” said Ziv. “And the police didn’t come to help us.”

Another Israeli fan, Alyia Cohen, said upon arriving back in Israel that she would return to Amsterdam for future matches. “We fear nothing, ours is the people of Israel.”

Five people were treated at the hospital and released, while about 20 to 30 people suffered minor injuries, police said. At least 62 suspects have been arrested, with 10 still in custody, the city’s public prosecutor, René de Beukelaer, told reporters at a news conference on Friday.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said they “view the horrifying incident with the utmost seriousness.” He called on the Dutch government to take “vigorous and swift action” against those involved.

Condemnation of the violence pouring in from across Europe. “Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in Europe and we are determined to combat it and fight all forms of hatred,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. “We want Jewish life and culture to thrive in Europe.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned the violence and flew home early from a European Union summit in Hungary.

The attacks shattered Amsterdam’s long-cherished vision of itself as a beacon of tolerance and a haven for persecuted religions, including Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain who fled to the city centuries ago.

Police said security would be beefed up at Jewish institutions in the city, which has a large Jewish community and was the home of Jewish woman Anne Frank and her family as they hid from Nazi occupiers.

Halsema, the mayor of Amsterdam, described the violence as “an eruption of anti-Semitism that we hoped we would never see again in Amsterdam”.

In the past, Ajax was known as a football club with ties to Amsterdam’s Jewish community, as visiting fans had to pass through the city’s Jewish quarter to reach the club’s former stadium. Ajax fans sometimes wave Star of David flags and chant the Dutch word for Jews.

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, flew to Amsterdam on Friday and, in a message on X, said that hatred of Jews “appears place after place after place”.

Saar met with the Dutch security and justice minister, promising Israeli help in the investigation, and held talks with Geert Wilders, a far-right, anti-Islam lawmaker whose party won national elections last year.

Amsterdam police spokeswoman Sara Tillart said it was too early in their investigation to say whether anyone other than soccer fans were targeted. Authorities banned demonstrations in the city over the weekend and gave police extra powers to search people.

The Israeli government initially ordered two planes to be sent to Amsterdam to bring fans home, but Netanyahu’s office later said it would work to help citizens arrange commercial flights.

Maccabi CEO Ben Mansford spoke to reporters at Israel’s international airport as some fans returned. “A lot of people went to watch a soccer game … to support Israel, to support the Star of David,” he said. For them to be attacked, “these are very sad times for all of us, given the last year we’ve had.”

Tensions were high in Amsterdam a few days before the match. A Palestinian flag was torn down from a building in Amsterdam on Wednesday, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported, and authorities banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium.

Before the match, large crowds of supporters of the Israeli team could be seen on video chanting anti-Arab slogans as they made their way to the stadium, escorted by police.

“Let the IDF win and the (expletive) Arabs,” chanted the fans, using the Israeli army’s acronym, as they shook their fists. It also showed police pushing some pro-Palestinian protesters away from a gathering of Maccabi fans in a square earlier in the day.