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Belgium summons U.S. ambassador over tweet accusing kingdom of antisemitism
Belgium protests U.S. ambassador's social media post accusing judicial harassment of Jewish community amid investigation into unlicensed circumcisions involving three Antwerp men.
- On Monday, U.S. Ambassador Bill White posted on X urging Frank Vanenbroucke to allow Jewish mohels to perform circumcisions and said he will travel to Antwerp next week.
- Under Belgian law circumcisions must be done by licensed medical professionals, with some religious exemptions, following a 2024 police complaint by Moshe Friedman and police raids in Antwerp's Jewish Quarter last May.
- The ambassador, who was confirmed last fall, called the cases a `RIDICULOUS AND ANTI SEMITIC 'PROSECUTION'` speaking on behalf of Trump administration officials, despite past criticism over amplifying posts by far-right Belgian activist Dries Van Langenhove and his veterans advocacy background.
- Belgian officials did not immediately respond while the ongoing prosecution faces criticism from the European Jewish Association and denial of wrongdoing by the Haredi Orthodox community.
- Broader context includes public-health warnings that metzitzah b'peh can risk infant infection, with several years ago New York City infections, and Europe recently limited religious exemptions including its 2024 kosher-slaughter ruling.
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58 Articles
Bill White | US Ambassador to Belgium: The US ambassador was summoned by the Belgian government after he called for a judicial…
The American diplomat accused the Antwerp Prosecutorate of anti-Semitism, after he had opened an investigation into illegal circumcision practices in the Orthodox Jewish community.
Belgium has severely called the U.S. ambassador to Brussels, Bill White, to order this Tuesday after he accused the country of “anti-Semitism” and its Health Minister, Frank Vandenbrouke, of “bullying the Jewish community” for the open judicial investigation against three Jewish circumcisers who lacked medical leave, remarks that Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot has described as “unacceptable.” Continue reading
Belgium summons US ambassador over antisemitism accusation
Belgium summoned the U.S. ambassador to the nation for a meeting Tuesday after he accused the country of antisemitic prosecution of Jewish Belgians in a social media post. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot called comments from U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White “unacceptable” in a post on social platform X, saying “any suggestion that Belgium…
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