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A senior police officer has apologised to Birmingham\u2019s Jewish residents after he told MPs that some had expressed support for the exclusion of Maccabi Tel Aviv<\/a> fans from attending last month\u2019s match against Aston Villa.<\/p>\n The decision to ban supporters of the Israeli team from the Europa League game at Villa Park in Birmingham had triggered political uproar, including Keir Starmer saying he was \u201cangered by the decision\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n The West Midlands<\/a> chief constable, Craig Guildford, assistant chief constable Mike O\u2019Hara and police and crime commissioner Simon Foster were questioned on their decision-making by the home affairs committee on Monday.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hara told the panel some Jewish representatives had said they did not want Maccabi fans to attend the match in Birmingham<\/a> on 6 November.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for West Midlands police said on Saturday: \u201cWe recognise that this has been a difficult time for our local Jewish community, we therefore have and continue to actively engage.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the HASC meeting on Monday, there were a number of questions asked, often with several parts and secondary points raised.<\/p>\n \u201cIn answering these questions, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The Sunday Times reported he has now written to Jewish representatives in Birmingham to apologise.<\/p>\n The decision by Birmingham\u2019s safety advisory group to ban the supporters was based in part on police intelligence.<\/p>\n