Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters attack Palestinians in Jaffa as UK officials demand police resignations over fan ban

Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attacked a Palestinian business owner in the Israeli port city of Jaffa on Wednesday, with footage of the attack shared widely on social media. 

Footage posted to social media showed Maccabi fans, dressed in the team's colours, throwing objects at the owner and staff at a Palestinian-owned car wash. The fans can be heard chanting "Death to Arabs" - a racist slogan that Maccabi supporters have been recorded chanting elsewhere.

Israeli police stood by and warned the business owner that he risked being shot if he attempted to flee in his vehicle, as it would look like an attempted car-ramming, Israeli journalists reported.

The video circulated online as controversy related to Maccabi Tel Aviv's fans raged on in the UK, where government officials and pro-Israel groups have called for police resignations over a decision to ban the supporters from attending a game in November.

British social media users highlighted the video as further evidence that the West Midlands Police (WMP) - the force that dealt with the game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa - were vindicated in their decision.

An attack was carried out by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans after a football match in Jaffa last night, during which some of them chanted racist slogans, including "Death to Arabs," resulting in injuries to three Palestinian residents of the city. pic.twitter.com/lCiDMWxi8F

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) January 15, 2026

WMP had classified the match as "high risk", but a police watchdog found eight "inaccuracies" in their advice to the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), including a reference to a non-existent game between Tel Aviv and West Ham, which was an "AI hallucination".

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Wednesday said she had "no confidence" in WMP Chief Constable Craig Guildford, after his force issued an apology over the "mistakes" in his force's safety briefing.

Mahmood noted that while the government did not have the power to remove Guildford, it had been more than 20 years since a home secretary last made such a statement of no confidence in a police chief.

However, the inquiry also found "no evidence" to show that antisemitism was involved in the local police's advice - a charge levelled by pro-Israel groups at the time. The report also accused the police force of failing to "consult representatives of the local Jewish community early enough".

The watchdog's report accused WMP of "greatly" exaggerating the problems in Amsterdam in November 2024, despite well-documented incidents of Maccabi fans attacking local Arabs and Muslims and chanting racist, anti-Arab slogans.

Among the slogans sung by the fans were "There is no more school in Gaza because there are no children left" - a reference to Israel's killing of tens of thousands of Palestinian children in the enclave, and "Death to Arabs".

Ahead of the Europa League game between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israeli authorities were forced to cancel a derby game between the Israeli club and its local rival, Hapoel Tel Aviv, due to rioting and hooliganism.

In December, UEFA penalised Maccabi Tel Aviv with a suspended one-match away fan ban, after its fans once again chanted racist, anti-Arab slogans at a Europa League away game against Stuttgart.

UEFA's control, ethics, and disciplinary body (CEDB) also fined the club €20,000 ($23,456) over their fans' behaviour.