At the final whistle, 0-0: despite a brief incident in the stands, the soccer match between France and Israel took place calmly on Thursday, November 14, at the Stade de France. An exceptional security system was implemented after last week’s violence on the sidelines of a Maccabi Tel-Aviv match in Amsterdam. The fans left the Saint-Denis stadium without incident shortly before 11 p.m., according to journalists from the Agence France-Presse.
During the first half there was a brief movement of the crowd in an upper stand, prompting stewards to intervene to prevent Israeli fans from mixing with French fans. In the images filmed in the stands we can see spectators exchanging blows, one of whom carries an Israeli flag on his shoulders. Questioned by AFP, the police chief did not want to communicate any information.
In the south stand, some fans took out Palestinian flags, applauded by others, before the security services intervened to remove them, an AFP journalist at the stadium noted. Only French and Israeli flags were allowed; Palestinian banners and political messages were banned.
As he leaves the stadium, Jad Charaf, 19, a law student in Nanterre, shows his white T-shirt on which it is written “Free Palestine”, “Free Lebanon” AND “Free world”. “They banned the Palestinian flag, but not the t-shirtssaid. They say that politics has no place in sport, but sport has always been political. I tried to show my discontent in this way and give our opinion. I am against any civil loss. That our politicians do nothing about what is happening in Gaza and Lebanon breaks my heart. »
An exceptional security system
The sporting aspects of this meeting outside Paris for the Nations League were largely overshadowed by the geopolitical context.
Emmanuel Macron, who attended the meeting, assured his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the “mobilization of France” for one “Good development of the match”.
Israeli coach Ran Ben Shimon thanked the French authorities for guaranteeing the safety of his team. “We want to thank the security people for protecting us. Thanks to the French security and the authorities who organized this match in an extraordinary and fantastic way.”declared the coach in a press conference after the match, which allowed his players to get their first point in this competition.
Securing the match had become a major issue as Europe faces a rise in racist and anti-Semitic acts since the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel and the start of the war in Gaza.
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A total of 4,000 police and gendarmes were deployed in the surrounding area and, rarely, in the Saint-Denis stadium, as well as on public transport and throughout Paris. In addition to the police, around 1,600 security agents were mobilized at the Stade de France and the RAID guaranteed the security of the Israeli team.
Record for lowest attendance at a Blues match at the Stade de France
The Saint-Denis venue (80,000 seats) sounded a little empty as only 16,611 spectators were present, the lowest attendance in history for a French national team match at the Stade de France.
The first rows of seats were covered with a tarp to prevent any intrusion and bars had been placed above the advertising panels surrounding the field.
Fears of excesses have been reinforced after the serious incidents that followed the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, on the night of November 7-8 in Amsterdam. Israeli supporters were then chased and beaten in the streets of the Dutch capital, attacks that left between twenty and thirty injured and sparked outrage in many Western capitals. Before the match, Maccabi fans chanted anti-Arab slogans and burned a Palestinian flag in the central Dam Square.
French authorities categorically rule out resigning from the party or relocating it as Belgium did in September. Israel, for its part, asked its fans on Sunday to avoid going to the Stade de France. And the head of Israeli diplomacy, Gideon Saar, asked the French authorities on Thursday afternoon to guarantee “the safety of Israeli fans”.
Led by an association for the defense of the Jewish community, more than 600 people went to the stadium in a dozen rented buses and subject to strict police security measures.
The authorities had planned to secure places of worship and Jewish communities in Paris and nearby suburbs, according to a note from the police headquarters (PP) consulted by AFP. The PP also asked the police for greater vigilance in the places where “supporters” [de la sélection israélienne] “he would probably move”.
In Saint-Denis, Popular Front square, several hundred people gathered on Thursday night to denounce the celebration of the match.