Sir Keir Starmer is doing “everything in his power” to ensure supporters of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv can support their team at its match against Aston Villa next month after an initial ban.
The prime minister has rounded on Birmingham City Council’s decision to ban Maccabi fans from the fixture, despite fears of violence if the away supporters are allowed to attend.
Violent clashes between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli fans erupted around the Europa League match between Dutch club Ajax and Maccabi in Amsterdam last year.
Five men were given prison sentences and more than 60 people were detained in the riots, which prompted accusations of deliberate antisemitic attacks.
But Sir Keir and his top ministers are pulling out all the stops to “find a way through” that would allow travelling Macabi fans to attend the game, his spokesman said.
And, in a hint the government’s efforts to undo the ban will force a U-turn, the prime minister’s official spokesman told fans to “expect to hear further updates today”.
It came after the PM condemned the ban on Maccabi supporters travelling for the match as “the wrong decision”.
The move was made amid public safety fears.
Social media videos of the team’s fixture against Ajax in Amsterdam showed Maccabi fans setting off flares and fireworks and chanting in Hebrew “olé, olé, let the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] win, we will f*** the Arabs”.
There were also reports of Maccabi fans chanting that there were “no children” left in Gaza. Maccabi fans were subject to “hit and run” attacks, with four rioters given short jail terms over the violence.
But Sir Keir slammed the decision, describing it in a post on X, formerly Twitter, as “the wrong decision”.
He said: “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets.
“The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
Meanwhile, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner called for an “immediate review” of the ban.
Simon Foster said questioned whether it is “appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”. But he added that any decision is ultimately for the “Safety Advisory Group and the independent, objective and impartial operational policing judgement of West Midlands Police”.
Uefa, which runs the Europa League, also urged UK authorities to make sure Maccabi Tel Aviv fans could attend the match in Birmingham.
In a statement, it said: “Uefa wants fans to be able to travel and support their team in a safe, secure and welcoming environment, and encourages both teams and the competent authorities to agree on the implementation of appropriate measures necessary to allow this to happen.”
A minister said senior government figures are meeting on Friday to find “a way through” that would allow Maccabi fans to attend the fixture.
Ian Murray, a minister in the culture department, said the decision was “completely and utterly unacceptable” and said culture secretary Lisa Nandy will be “meeting with the Home Office and other stakeholders today to try and see if there’s a way through this”.
Former top prosecutor Nazir Afzal told The Independent: “I wouldn’t ban the Maccabi football fans from the Aston Villa match as awful as their chants might be, but I understand why the police are concerned. I would escort them to the match, let them watch their team … and then escort them away afterwards.”
Andrew Fox, honorary president of Aston Villa Jewish Villans supporters’ club, said the decision is “a political message rather than a safety message”.
The retired British army major told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There’s no evidence of Maccabi’s fans being particularly violent. They don’t have a track record in all of their previous European games of having a violent fan group.”
He said it sends a “really worrying message” about British society and makes “a febrile political situation worse”.
He said there are plenty of “well-established ways” to keep opposing supporters apart, and that bans were usually reserved for cases where there is “guaranteed violence” from the visiting fans.
Maccabi’s chief executive, Jack Angelides, said the move was contributing to a rise in antisemitism.
“I don’t use this term lightly, but people ask ‘what does antisemitism look like?’ And it’s often manifested as part of a process, a process in other words, small events leading up to something that’s more sinister,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He added: “To be frank, it’s met with some dismay about what this potentially is signalling.”
Mr Angelides said the team has played in places such as Turkey, which are “not so kind” to Israeli teams, but the police “were out in force” and there were no incidents.
Meanwhile, Emily Damari, a British-Israeli who was held captive by Hamas for more than a year before being released in January, and who supports football teams Maccabi Tel Aviv and Tottenham Hotspur, said the decision to ban Israeli fans attending a match against Aston Villa was “outrageous”.
She said: “I am shocked to my core with this outrageous decision to ban me, my family and my friends from attending an Aston Villa game in the UK.
“Football is a way of bringing people together irrespective of their faith, colour or religion, and this disgusting decision does the exact opposite.
“Shame on you. I hope you come to your senses and reconsider.
“I do wonder what exactly has become of UK society. This is like putting a big sign on the outside of a stadium saying, ‘No Jews allowed’.
“What has become of the UK where blatant antisemitism has become the norm? What a sad world we are living in.”
The decision was also branded a “national disgrace” by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and a “shameful decision” by Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar.
On X, Ms Badenoch wrote: “Starmer pledged that Jews are welcome and safe in Britain. That he stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community and will use the full force of his government to prove it.
“Will he back those words with action and guarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country?
“If not, it sends a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go.”
West Midlands Police said they had classified the Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture as high risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”.
Ayoub Khan, the pro-Gaza Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, welcomed the decision.
He said: “From the moment that the match was announced, it was clear that there were latent safety risks that even our capable security and police authorities would not be able to fully manage.
“With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign had called for the match to be cancelled, saying on X: “Israeli football teams shouldn’t play in international tournaments whilst it commits genocide and apartheid.”
