High security as Israel face France in Paris football match

PARIS: Israel faces France in a Nations League football match in Paris on Thursday (Nov 14) surrounded by a huge security operation to prevent a repetition of the attacks on Israeli fans in Amsterdam last week.

French authorities are taking no chances with the game at the Stade de France after supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv club were chased by men on scooters and beaten following a Europa League match against Ajax in Amsterdam on November 7.

Amsterdam's Mayor Femke Halsema called it a "poisonous cocktail of anti-Semitism and hooliganism".

Despite calls from some French lawmakers to postpone Thursday's match or move it to another city, the government says it will not bow to the risk of violence.

"We will not give in to anti-Semitism anywhere, and violence - including in the French Republic - will never prevail, nor will intimidation," said President Emmanuel Macron, who will attend the game, told BFMTV a few hours before kickoff.

Nevertheless, the Paris police chief has described the match as "high risk" and Israel has urged its citizens to avoid it.

A total of 4,000 police and members of the security forces will be stationed in Paris and around the stadium, where the athletics and rugby sevens events were held during this year's Olympics.

In a rare move, police will also be deployed inside the stadium in roles normally assigned to civilian security staff.

An elite police unit will guard the Israeli team as it travels to and from the stadium and another 1,600 civilian security personnel will be on duty.

The security context has clearly impacted the attendance, with only around 13,000 spectators expected in a venue that holds up to 80,000, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Wednesday.

Authorities say up to 20,000