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US Envoy Presses Belgium Over Prosecution of Mohels
- 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.
16 Articles
16 Articles
The US ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, criticized Monday what he described as "anti-Semitic harassment" by local authorities to the Mohels, practitioners of Jewish circumcision.Read more
U.S. ambassador urges Belgium to drop prosecution of mohels in Antwerp
The U.S. ambassador called the investigation 'ridiculous and antisemitic.' Belgian authorities launched raids after complaints about unsafe circumcision practices in Haredi communities, including the controversial metzitzah b'peh ritual, which has caused infant infections abroad
US Envoy Presses Belgium Over Prosecution of Mohels
BRUSSELS (VINnews) — The United States ambassador to Belgium has urged Belgian authorities to abandon criminal proceedings against three Jewish ritual circumcisers charged with practicing medicine without a license, arguing the case threatens religious freedom. Ambassador Bill White publicly called on Belgian officials to end what he described as unjust prosecutions following police raids last […]
Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés) summoned US Ambassador Bill White. White urged Belgium to stop the "ridiculous and antisemitic persecution of three Jewish circumcisers in Antwerp." Prévot rejected this intervention: "Any suggestion that Belgium is antisemitic is false, insulting, and unacceptable."
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