Following meetings with top Dutch leaders on Monday, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt emphasized that the attacks on Jews and Israelis after a soccer match featuring the Maccabi Tel Aviv team in Amsterdam last week could have become a much worse tragedy.

Greenblatt met with the Dutch prime minister, justice minister and national security advisor as well as leaders from the local Jewish community, sports club and Uber, drivers for which have been accused of participating in the attacks.

“The one thing that I heard today from law enforcement, that I heard today from political leadership, that I heard from the Jewish community is that we are lucky no one was killed,” Greenblatt said. “That is a widespread sentiment that I heard and it’s chilling to think that that’s the good news.”

Greenblatt said that Dutch leaders told him that the initial reports of dozens of people being arrested following the soccer match had pertained to disturbances before and at the game itself, not from the mob violence. On Monday night, Dutch police announced that they had arrested at least five people in connection with the attacks on the Israeli fans.

And Greenblatt said that over 100 pro-Hamas demonstrators who attempted to hold a separate unauthorized demonstration in Amsterdam on Sunday were also ultimately released as well.

The ADL CEO emphasized with “absolute certainty” that the attack was “not spontaneous at all, this was absolutely planned.” He blasted the New York Times as well as other media outlets and influencers for “gaslighting” that is “so egregious” in suggesting that the attacks were provoked by bad behavior from Israeli fans.

“This was a well-planned, highly coordinated, multi-stage attack, where people were literally left fleeing for their lives,” Greenblatt said.

Greenblatt said that “no one that I spoke to in the Dutch leadership denies” that the incident was essentially a pogrom where Jews were hunted through the streets of Amsterdam.

“They were nothing but apologetic, regretful and trying to understand, how did this take place at all?” Greenblatt said. “The political leadership said all the right things. They weren’t defensive … The question is, what’s going to be the action?”

He explained that Dutch police had been prepared for unrest at the game itself — they had instituted a protest ban and sent extra police to the game to ensure that no fights broke out in the stadium. Greenblatt said the game went smoothly “and so in that regard, they handled themselves.”

But the problems began, he said, because police dispersed after the game ended, allowing for the attacks in the streets to begin.

“Why were they not prepared for this? I can’t say. Why did they not anticipate that the job wasn’t over until the night was over? I can’t say,” Greenblatt said.

The ADL chief said that Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof is planning to meet on Tuesday with Jewish community leaders to discuss the path forward.

“The Jewish community needs to know that the government is actually going to do something,” Greenblatt said. 

Those actions, Greenblatt argued, should include an investigation and arrests of those involved — using location data through social media apps to pinpoint those involved in planning and inciting the attacks; action by the Dutch government against groups supporting terrorism operating inside the Netherlands; and a “broader conversation about the danger of anti-Zionism and the peril of propaganda that goes unchallenged.”

Greenblatt will be meeting with other European leaders in Berlin and Brussels this week.

“The worry is that this is going to spread to other communities,” he said. “European leaders need to look themselves in the mirror and say, ‘What are we going to do to stop that from happening now, before it’s too late. Now, before someone gets killed.’”

The ADL chief described the rise of violent antisemitism as a “European crisis.”

Greenblatt said that it has yet to be confirmed whether Uber drivers were involved in the attack but said that Uber leadership told him they are “fully cooperating” with the authorities. He said the authorities must work with the rideshare company and taxi companies (taxi drivers were also implicated in the attacks) to identify those involved. 

Based on his conversations with local Jewish leaders, Greenblat said that a recent report in local Jewish media that Dutch police had refused to protect Jewish institutions was at least partially accurate: he said there was one such case of which the Jewish leaders were aware. Greenblatt said he didn’t know what had become of the officer in question.

The ADL CEO also described the attacks as an opportunity for sports leaders and leagues to step up and send a clear message that such behavior is unacceptable and “show a commitment to the Jewish and Israeli fans.”

This story was updated at 5 a.m. ET to include the arrests of suspects in connection with the attacks on the Israeli fans.