France will deploy about 4,000 police officers to secure the France-Israel football match on Thursday, three times more than would normally be on duty for such an occasion. Only about a quarter of tickets have been sold for the game so far, the French Football Association said, amid tension following violence in the Netherlands last week.
President Emmanuel Macron is set to attend the match amid escalating security concerns. Hosting the match in Paris is a high-risk decision due to the "tense geopolitical context", Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said.
He praised the Interior Ministry for its "courageous decision" in allowing the match to go ahead at the Stade de France, in the north of Paris, an area where one third of the population are immigrants.
On Tuesday, Benjamin Haddad, French European Affairs minister, said calls to boycott the match were unacceptable. "It must be a moment of celebration," he told Europe 1 radio. "I am glad that we did not give in to intimidation or blackmail. Israelis are welcome whether they are footballers or supporters."
The match is to be played after Israeli football fans were last week caught up in violent incidents in Amsterdam, with Israeli authorities calling for its citizens to avoid sports events. In September, Belgium cancelled a match with Israel over security concerns.
About 70 people have been arrested over the clashes that erupted after Ajax faced Maccabi Tel Aviv. After the match in the Dutch capital, young men attacked Israeli fans, punching and kicking them before fleeing police, Mayor Femke Halsema said.
About 4,000 police and gendarmes will be sent on duty in and around stadium in Paris on Thursday – a significant increase from the usual 1,200 to 1,300 officers, Mr Nunez said. Israeli security agents will also be allowed to accompany their national team.
"The main lesson from Amsterdam is that you have to be present in depth, in the centre of Paris," Mr Nunez told BFMTV. "There can be incidents anywhere."
Palestinian flag ban
Fans at the match will pass through two security checks – at a perimeter outside the stadium, then at entrances to the venue. While French and Israeli flags will be allowed, Palestinian flags are prohibited. Organisers have also closed the front rows to prevent fans from storming the field.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau last week said it was "unacceptable" that a giant “free Palestine” banner was unveiled at Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League match against Atletico Madrid. Uefa, European football's governing body, said the French club would not face sanctions as it only banned political messages deemed insulting or provocative – a decision Mr Nunez described as "very surprising", given the statement from Mr Retailleau.
Ticket sales for the Israel-France football match have been notably low. As of Friday, fewer than 15,000 tickets for 80,000-seat stadium had been sold, the Ouest France newspaper reported. Officials said this was down to a lack of interest from the general public and security fears.
The pro-Palestine, left-wing party La France Insoumise has called for the public to boycott the match. There are also concerns about events leading up to the match, with the Jewish, right-wing Betar Movement saying it will rally in Paris against anti-Semitism on Wednesday and Thursday. "We will gather in France. The same France that orders an end to arms embargoes to Israel cannot protect the Jews," the group said in a statement.
It has refrained from communicating further details about the rallies out of security concerns, a Betar representative said.
Another point of contention was the expected attendance of far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich at a pro-Israel event in Paris on Wednesday. Mr Smotrich on Monday announced plans to annex the occupied West Bank and made comments in August about the necessity of starving people in Gaza, remarks that were condemned by the French government. He will no longer attend the gala, Mr Nunez said, without giving a reason for Mr Smotrich's absence.
Diplomatic relations between France and Israel have become increasingly tense. Mr Macron has called for arms exporters to Israel, which includes the US, to stop selling weapons that may be used in the Gaza war. Israel's ambassador to France was summoned by Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Tuesday after an incident in Jerusalem inc which armed Israeli security forces entered a property administered by France.
