UK leader calls for local ban on Israeli football fans Maccabi Tel Aviv

London — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticized a UK local authority’s decision to ban fans of an Israeli soccer team from coming to support their team. Starmer called the move by authorities in Birmingham, England, to prevent Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending their upcoming match against city team Aston Villa a misstep.

“This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate anti-Semitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure that all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation,” Starmer said in a social media post on Friday.

A safety advisory group made up of authorities who give advice on welfare, health and safety for events in Birmingham made the decision to ban traveling Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the November 6 match earlier this week.

UK police authorities supported the decision after classifying the game as a “high risk” public event.

The decision was made in line with “current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crimes that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Amsterdam,” a statement from West Midlands Police, which covers Birmingham, said on Thursday.

Following Starmer’s comments, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster asked the Security Advisory Group to review its decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.

“Any decision or recommendation is ultimately a matter for Birmingham City Council’s SAG and the independent, objective and impartial operational policing judgment of West Midlands Police,” Foster said.

He violence last year in Amsterdam cited by West Midlands Police, which occurred in the context of the war in gazadrew worldwide attention. Maccabi fans were among hundreds who marched through central Amsterdam demonstrating in support of Israel before a match against Dutch team Ajax. During the marches, flares were lit and Palestinian flags hanging in some streets were torn down amid chants of “death to the Arabs” by some Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.

After that match, some Amsterdam residents “actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them,” Dutch law enforcement authorities said, prompting a furious reaction from the Israeli government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the violence as a “premeditated anti-Semitic attack.”

Sixty-two people were arrested and five were injured amid the unrest, Dutch police said at the time.

Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have a history of causing disturbances at recent football matches. A March report from an anti-racism group in Israel said the team’s fans were the most prolific in singing racist chants during games during the league’s last season, according to Israeli news outlet Ynet.

The decision to block the visit of Israeli supporters also came just weeks after a deadly Terrorist attack on a synagogue in the city of Manchester, in the northeast of England. Two Jewish men were killed and three others seriously injured during the attack, which took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar.

Police later said one of the two victims was likely killed by police gunfire as officers rushed to arrest the suspect, who first rammed his car into people and then attacked with a knife outside the synagogue. Officers shot and killed the suspect, whom investigators later identified as Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent.

The ban imposed on Israeli football fans also comes in the wake of a alleged arson attack at a mosque in the southern British town of Peacehaven. Police said they are investigating that incident as a possible hate crime.

Birmingham, the second largest city in the United Kingdom, has one of the largest Muslim populations in Britain.

In:

• Riot
• Israel
• Great Britain
• Antisemitism
• United Kingdom
• Soccer
• Birmingham