West Midlands Police has apologised to a cross-party group of MPs after suggesting that Jewish people in Birmingham had expressed support for a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a football match against Aston Villa.
The force has admitted there was "no documented feedback" that British Jews wanted fans of the Israeli club banned, despite their claims.
The decision to ban the fans in November, which caused huge backlash including that of Sir Keir Starmer, was taken by the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG) in October.
SAG is made up of representatives from the council, police and other authorities.
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Assistant chief constable (ACC) at WMP, Mike O'Hara, told the Home Affairs Select Committee of MPs earlier this month police had been told by members of the Jewish community they did not want Maccabi fans to attend the match prior to the game.
WMP issued a statement in response to clarify the comments: "It was never the intention of the officer to imply that there were members of the Jewish community who had explicitly expressed support for the exclusion of Maccabi fans."
Dame Karen Bradley, the Conservative chair of the committee, then wrote to the force asking for further clarification of what ACC O’Hara meant.
In response, WMP chief constable Craig Guildford said: "We can confirm that there is no documented feedback from Jewish representatives prior to the decision being communicated which expressed support for the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans."
West Midlands Police chief constable Craig Guildford has apologised for 'any confusion caused' by Mike O'Hara's comments
|PA
He added, though, that since ACC O’Hara appeared at the committee, he "has been approached by members of the Jewish community who expressed that they agree with the Sag decision".
"Understandably, many community members chose to share their views privately, offering their support in confidence," he said.
"ACC O’Hara and I would like to take this opportunity to formally apologise to the Home Affairs Select Committee for any confusion caused and would like to reassure you that there was never any intention to mislead whatsoever."
Birmingham City Council has said it plans to commission an independent review to learn from the mistakes of the decision to ban Maccabi fans.
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The ban brought fierce criticism, including that of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
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Locals stood around the protest with banners saying, 'Maccabi not welcome'
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The game became a hotbed for pro-Palestine demonstrations
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Richard Brooks, executive director of city operations at the council, admitted the council and Sag are keen to "learn from this experience and develop its processes for the future".
Police relied on Dutch intelligence to bar fans of the Israeli club from attending their game against Aston Villa on November 6 - intelligence that Dutch authorities have since labelled as false or misleading.
West Midlands Police had claimed as many as 600 Maccabi supporters deliberately attacked Muslim neighbourhoods while they were in Amsterdam.
The force also alleged that fans pushed members of the public into canals and that 200 supporters had connections to the Israeli military.
UK police told Birmingham City Council that 5,000 Dutch officers were required to handle the disorder in the Netherlands.
These claims were central to the police's argument that allowing fans to travel from Israel would create unacceptable risks.
The ban sparked mass accusations of antisemitism and creating "no-go zones" for Jews - though the Government did not reverse the ban.
Earlier this month, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood ordered officials to examine the matter, while the police watchdog demanded a full explanation for the controversial decision.
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