The game was interrupted in the 84th minute when about 20 of the protesters rushed into the pitch waving Palestinian flags. They attacked Israeli players, including Maccabi Haifa captain Yossi Benayoun.
Video footage of the incident shows several of the protesters clashing with players as security tried to clear the pitch of the intruders.
Condemning the attack, Austrian Chancellor, Werner Faymann, said: “Guests who stay in Austria, have the right to do so in safety, regardless of their origin or their religious affiliation,”
Maccabi Haifa issued a statement about the incident, complaining the team had “experienced an uncomfortable atmosphere of violence on the pitch and in the stands”, blaming the “incitement in Turkish media” as the cause of the attack. According to the club, the protesters “were mostly Turkish immigrants”.
“We condemn the violence that was used against us. This happened not because of sports or football, but because we are a team that represents Israel,” a team spokesperson told the Jerusalem Post.
Several anti-Israel protests have engendered anti-semitic violence in across Europe, since Tel Aviv intensified air strikes on the Gaza.
Germany has placed its police on high alert, as 14 people were arrested in Essen for planning to attack a synagogue this week. This follows German police officials issuing a ban on anti-semitic slurs, after chants of “Jew, Jew, cowardly pig” were heard at an anti-Israeli protest in Berlin last week.
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