“This requires a strong and unequivocal response. I call on the Dutch authorities to intensify their efforts to combat antisemitism, incitement and terror against the Jewish community,” said Isaac Herzog who spoke to Dutch Jewish leaders.
Jewish groups criticized Dutch politicians who they said ”had turned a blind eye to anti-Semitism among Islamic, left-wing,and right-wing groups.
”It is utterly unacceptable that the historic Jewish community of the Netherlands, which was devastated during the Holocaust and is now a thriving center of Jewish life, is still threatened by violent antisemitism,” declared Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.
His statement of support of Jews in the Netherlands followed the attacks on the NIG Rotterdam synagogue and the Cheider Jewish school in Amsterdam. Firebombs were set off at those locations this week. There are strong indications that these incidents are linked to one another and to the attack on the synagogue in Liège, Belgium, last Monday.
The president called the rise in antisemitic violence across Europe, including the, attack on the synagogue in Liège, “deeply concerning.’’
“This requires a strong and unequivocal response. I call on the Dutch authorities to intensify their efforts to combat antisemitism, incitement and terror against the Jewish community,” Herzog said on Saturday evening. Earlier, he contacted leaders of the Dutch Jewish community in the Netherlands and discussed the situation in the country with them.
According to Jonet.nl, Herzog spoke with Chanan Hertzberger, Chairman of the Central Jewish Council (CJO), Chris den Hoedt,Chairman of the NIG Rotterda, Rabbi Yehuda Vorst of the NIG Rotterdam and Herman Loonstein, chairman of the board of the Cheider in Amsterdam. Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Zvi Aviner, was also on the call.
On the night of Thursday to Friday, a firebomb exploded at the entrance to the NIG Rotterdam synagogue, and on the night of Friday to Saturday, a firebomb struck the facade of the Jewish school Cheider in Amsterdam.
Both attacks have shockedthe Dutch society and the wider world. They also prompted strong condemnation from Dutch politicians, including Prime Minister Rob Jetten.
However, as Joods.nl reported, politicians both on national and local levels faced criticism from Jewish and pro-Jewish organizations who are blaming them for having done too little to combat antisemitism, particularly in schools and universities.
According to critics, this was made possible by “years of turning a blind eye” to anti-Semitism among Islamic, left-wing,and right-wing groups.
Early Friday morning, police arrested four young men from the city of Tilburg. They are suspected of carrying out the attack at the synagogue in Rotterdam. The perpetrators of the attack on the Cheider are still at large. A major national police investigation has been launched.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, who is a member of the leftist GroenLinks-PvdA party, condemned the attack but was strongly criticized for saying that the damage to the Cheider school “was limited,” appearing to deliberately downplaying the attack.
The attacks in the Netherlands are believed to be linked to the attack on the synagogue in Liège . Afterward, the perpetrators posted videos of their actions on social media, attributing them to a new Iraq-based Shiite terrorist group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyyah. The videos it took of the three respective attacks quickly appeared on Shi’ite axis Telegram channels, such as those associated with Hezbollah or the Islamic Republic Revolution Guards (IRGC).This may suggest a link between Ashab Al Yamin and Iran-related proxy organizations, according to The Jerusalem Post.