Israel issues fan warning ahead of France game, Macron attending - ESPN

Israel told citizens on Sunday to avoid going to cultural and sports events abroad involving Israelis in the coming week, following attacks last week on Israeli soccer supporters in Amsterdam.

A statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel had intelligence that pro-Palestinian groups abroad intended to harm Israelis in cities in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and others.

France and Israel are playing in a UEFA Nations League match on Thursday that French President Emmanuel Macron will attend, the Elysee presidential palace said.

Paris police said Sunday that 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed for the match to ensure security in and around the stadium and on public transportation a week after the violence against Israeli fans in Amsterdam.

«There's a context, tensions that make that match a high-risk event for us,» Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said on French news broadcaster BFM TV, adding authorities «won't tolerate» any violence.

Nuñez said that 2,500 police officers would be deployed around the Stade de France stadium, north of the French capital, in addition to 1,500 others in Paris and on public transportation.

«There will be an anti-terrorist security perimeter around the stadium,» Nuñez said. Security checks will be «reinforced,» he added, including systematic pat-downs and bag searches.

Nuñez said that French organizers have been in contact with Israeli authorities and security forces in order to prepare for the match.

Israeli fans were assaulted last week after a soccer game in Amsterdam by groups of young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people, according to Dutch authorities. Five people were treated