With thousands of extra security personnel deployed on the streets of Paris and a “double ring” of security thrown around the national stadium, France took no chances with Thursday’s soccer match with Israel.

After shocking scenes of violence in Amsterdam last week – with charges to organize “hunting” of Jews after days of unrest with fans of visiting Israeli club Maccabi-Tel Aviv – the French capital was determined to avoid a repeat.

However, the atmosphere in the stadium was clearly tense, with the Associated Press (AP) reporting a brief altercation between a small number of fans in the stands early in the game.

The AP said the scuffle broke out at the top of the stands behind one of the goals, with some of those involved wearing Israeli flags draped over their backs. It was unclear what prompted the altercation and security intervened after about a minute.

About 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium employees were deployed to police the match, with about 2,500 of those officers around the stadium, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said.

Last year’s French Cup final was attended by about 3,000 police and 1,400 staff, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.

The elite RAID police unit was present inside the ground, according to France’s interior minister. An “anti-terrorist security perimeter” was created around the stadium to ensure two separate identity checks and searches of attendees.

This match comes just days after a few nights of clashes in Amsterdam. At least five people were treated in hospital and dozens arrested after Israeli fans were hunted down and attacked following Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 5-0 defeat by Ajax in violence condemned as anti-Semitic by authorities in the Down and Israel.

Tensions were high before the match in Amsterdam. Several videos on social media showed Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab slurs, praising Israeli military strikes in Gaza and shouting “to hell with the Arabs”.

Maccabi supporters also tore down flags, vandalized a taxi and set fire to a Palestinian flag, Amsterdam police said.

The supporters of the Israeli national team who traveled to Paris were likely to differ from the supporters at the Maccabi match in Amsterdam – some of whom have a reputation for hooliganism and violence.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he expected a total of 12,000-13,000 fans for the match, one of the lowest attendances ever at the 80,000-capacity Stade de France, the centerpiece of Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.

On Sunday, Israel specifically warned its citizens not to attend the match due to fears for their safety. Even so, the officials were determined for the game to go ahead.

Retaileau refused to cancel or move the match, telling MPs that doing so would be tantamount to “caving in to the haters”.

Instead, the country’s iconic stadium has been transformed into a veritable fortress.

But the match was not notable for its security.

French President Emmanuel Macron attended the match, an unusual move for a match featuring a relatively minor player on the world football stage. The Elysee Palace told CNN affiliate BFMTV that its presence would “send a message of brotherhood and solidarity after the intolerable anti-Semitic acts that followed the match in Amsterdam.”

Macron was joined by his prime minister and two of his predecessors, former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy – a rare show of unity.

An iron-fisted response

This game comes at a particularly tense time for politics and sport in France.

Last week, Retaileau demanded answers from Paris Saint-Germain, the city’s main club, after fans staged a huge “Free Palestine” display in the stands at a Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid.

After the match, Retaileau posted on X that clubs should be careful that “politics does not come to the detriment of sport, which must always remain a force for unity”, promising in a subsequent radio interview that “nothing was out of table” in terms. of sanctions against clubs that refuse to toe the line and of policing “political” banners.

The minister struck an aggressive tone in his first months in office, and his response to the Amsterdam attacks was no different. Retaileau asked prosecutors to investigate a far-left lawmaker’s post about the violence in the Dutch capital — an unprecedented move even as tensions rose after last year’s October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza that followed. . .

Marie Mesmeur posted that the Israelis attacked in Amsterdam “were not lynched because they were Jewish, but because they were racist and advocated genocide.”

The official French response could not be more different.

Macron said the incidents “recalled the most shameful hours in history”, in sentiments mirrored by senior French officials in a wave of X posts.

France – ca much of Europe and north america – has faced growing anti-Semitism in recent years, which has only been exacerbated by the October 7 attacks and Israel’s bloody campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.

In France in particular, less than 1 percent of the French population is Jewish, yet Jews are the victims of 57 percent of all racist and anti-religious attacks in the country, Retaileau told lawmakers on Tuesday.

France is home to the largest Jewish population in Europe and one of the largest Muslim populations on the continent. In recent years, French far-right politicians have clamored to claim the moral high ground around anti-Semitism.

All this comes amid a diplomatic row between Paris and Tel Aviv. Just this week, the Israeli ambassador in Paris was summoned to the French foreign ministry after two French police officers were briefly detained iin East Jerusalem occupied by Israel.

The French government has tried to walk a difficult path between responding to Hamas attacks on Israel and rising domestic anti-Semitism and outrage over Israel’s destruction in Gaza and elsewhere. However, in light of the recent events in Amsterdam, he is keen to show his commitment to protecting French Jews: Thursday’s match provided the perfect opportunity.

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