Belgium Summons US Ambassador Over Antisemitism Claim

Brussels, Belgium – The United States ambassador to Belgium sparked a diplomatic dispute on Monday by publicly accusing the Belgian government of antisemitism over an ongoing investigation into Jewish ritual circumcisions in Antwerp, prompting Belgium's foreign minister to summon him for a formal reprimand the following day.

Ambassador Bill White, appointed by President Donald Trump last fall, used the social media platform X to demand that Belgium immediately drop what he called a "ridiculous and antisemitic prosecution" of three mohels – Jewish religious practitioners trained to perform brit milah, the circumcision of eight-day-old boys as a central tenet of the faith. In his post, White addressed Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke directly, urging him to create a legal exemption allowing mohels to conduct the procedure without medical certification. "Stop this unacceptable harassment of the Jewish community here in Antwerp and in Belgium," White wrote, adding that the government's stance threatened religious freedoms and that he planned to visit the accused men in Antwerp the following week.

The investigation, which began in 2024, stems from a complaint filed by a...