The riot surrounding Jewish circumcisers is flaring up again now that the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office has referred two men to the criminal court. US Ambassador Bill White immediately called it a “disgrace for Belgium”. “Belgium is not an anti-Semitic state, that is nonsense,” Prime Minister Bart De Wever responds to his accusations.
Sven Van Malderen
Journalist at HLN
LOOK. De Wever: “Making wild statements contributes nothing”
“Circumcision is of course essential for the Jewish faith and Islam, but so are the quality requirements of our legislation,” says De Wever. “You have to reconcile the two. I can only call on all actors in these types of debates not to go on the public stage and make all kinds of wild, violent and unjustified statements.”
The fuss arose after the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office referred two Jewish ritual circumcisers to the criminal court. The pair are accused of intentional assault or battery on minors and the unlawful practice of medicine.
“Belgium will now be regarded by the world as anti-Semitic,” White said. “There is no escape without a solution. The Trump administration condemns this legal action and also condemns the lack of political decisiveness of the Belgian government to find a solution with the beautiful Jewish community here in Belgium.”
LOOK. “What Ambassador White is doing is Donald Trump’s orders”
Prévot: “Defamatory”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also accuses our country of anti-Semitism. Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prévot clearly does not appreciate that criticism.
In two separate messages on “To portray this as an attempt by our country to undermine the religious freedom of Jews is defamatory,” it said.
“Have said this before”
Prévot proposes to Saar to discuss the matter during a meeting in Israel “to put an end to any misunderstandings”. White gets the message that “it is not up to an ambassador to set the government’s agenda.”
“I urge you to exercise more restraint and see your role in context. It is inappropriate to publicly criticize a country and damage its image just because you disagree with a judicial process. I have told you this before,” it said.
“Ignores the heart of the matter”
Prévot warned White in February during a “frank and direct exchange of views” about the role of the ambassador in his cabinet. The diplomatic incident surrounding the ritual circumcisers in Antwerp seemed to have been resolved at the time, but has now flared up again.
Saar responded to Prévot’s message via X. “I fear that your comments about ‘the independence of the judiciary’ completely ignore the heart of the matter. If the issue of the British Milah (Jewish circumcision, ed.) had been regulated as in other European countries, then an investigation should never have taken place. If Belgium had a plan to combat anti-Semitism, you might have known about it. Unfortunately, that is not the case.”
