Amsterdam removes visible security measures around Jewish institutions

Amsterdam is removing the visible security around Jewish institutions in the city, Ronny Naftaniel of the Central Jewish Consultation (CJO) confirmed to NOS after a report in De Telegraaf. The Jewish organizations in the city received a letter from the municipality stating that the Koninklijke Marechaussee, a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military, will protect the buildings differently from this week. 

The city placed physical protection around Jewish institutions in 2014 due to a terrorist threat. But according to the municipality, the technological security of the buildings has improved so much over the past years that it is no longer necessary to put Marechaussee officers at the door. 

The CJO is not pleased with this development. "I think it is unwise," said Naftaniel. "Especially if you look at what happened in Dallas this month." An armed man broke into a synagogue during service and took the rabbi and three others hostage. The hostage situation ended ten hours later with the perpetrator killed and the hostages unharmed. 

Security prevented a similar incident in Halle, Germany, in 2019, according to the CJO. A man shot and killed two people on the street and in a doner shop. Just before that, he tried to get into a crowded synagogue to cause a massacre, but security stopped him, Naftaniel said to the broadcaster. "Otherwise, a lot more people would have been killed." 

"If you react to what the cameras see, you're often too late. It is important to be armed at the door. It's simply necessary with all the crazy people who believe in conspiracy theories," he said to the broadcaster.