According to a Dutch Jewish group, the perpetrator wanted to set the HaCarmel restaurant on fire. “The police arrived on time,” tweeted the organization, which also published photos of the incident.

Last January, the Israel Information and Documentation Center (CIDI) announced that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands had risen again in the past year.

The window of a Jewish restaurant in Amsterdam was smashed Friday morning. The police arrested a suspect and had to use pepper spray. They said they are investigating further the perpetrator’s motives.

According to a Dutch Jewish group, the perpetrator wanted to set the HaCarmel restaurant on fire. “The police arrived on time,” tweeted the organization, which also published photos of the incident. It shows that an Israeli flag is sticking out.

The restaurant on the Amstelveen road was previously the target of several vandalism acts and threats.

Earlier this year,  a suspicious package was found in front of the restaurant. Ultimately it turned out to be a false alarm.

In January 2018, food scraps were smeared on the windows. A few months later, in March, the facade of the restaurant was destroyed again. According to the police, a large stone was supposedly thrown against the window.

In December 2017, a Palestinian refugee broke a window. That was after U.S. President Trump announced that he would move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The man was sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonement and a two-year ban on location.

Last January, the Israel Information and Documentation Center (CIDI) announced that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands had risen again in the past year. In 2018, CIDI registered 135 anti-Semitic incidents and 182 in 2019.CIDI director Hanna Luden spoke of a “worrying increase” as the municipality of Amsterdam, the police and the judiciary declared that they want to take stronger action against anti-Semitism.

Earlier this week, the country’s King, Willem-Alexander, in a speech at an annual ceremony in Amsterdam for Dutch victims of armed conflicts during and after WWWII, acknowledged his great-grandmother’s perceived indifference to the fate of Dutch Jews during the Holocaust.

Queen Wilhelmina, who abdicated in 1948, referenced the persecution of Jews only three times in 48 radio speeches made during her exile in the United Kingdom — all in general terms and after mentioning other cruelties visited on the general population.

75% of the prewar population of the Netherlands were murdered by the Nazis and their local collaborators.