Criminal charges were filed Wednesday in Belgium against three Jewish circumcisers, sparking a renewed diplomatic spat between
Belgium has laws mandating that all medical procedures must be performed by a licensed doctor.
In May last year, police in Antwerp rounded up the three mohels, suspected of illegally conducting the ritual Jewish circumcisions.
After an extensive investigation, prosecutors on Wednesday decided that they had enough evidence to move forward with an indictment.
In a sharply worded post on X, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the charges “a scarlet letter on Belgian society.”
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“With this act, Belgium joins a short and shameful list, together with Ireland, of countries that use criminal law to prosecute Jews for practicing Judaism,” he wrote.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar speaks during a meeting of the subcommittee on Foreign Policy and Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, March 23, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Belgium’s top diplomat said the accusation was defamatory and that he would be happy to come to Israel to discuss the issue.
“Enough with these caricatures,” Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot wrote on X.
He said Belgium’s judiciary acts independently and without political interference, noting the case was initiated by “representatives of the Jewish community themselves.” He rejected claims that Belgium was undermining Jewish religious freedom, saying such rights are protected by the constitution.
“Since you yourself recently urged against conducting diplomacy via Twitter,” Prevot said in reference to Sa’ar’s recent online spat with Ukrainian officials, “I suggest that we discuss all these issues during a meeting in Israel at a time that suits you best, to put an end to any misinterpretations.”
Sa’ar responded that Prevot’s comments “completely miss the point.”
“There should never have been such an investigation, had the issue of Brit Milah been regulated like in other European countries that respect Jewish religious freedom,” he said.
Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
“Especially so in a country with one of the oldest Jewish communities in Europe,” Sa’ar continued. “Had Belgium had a strategic plan to fight antisemitism and foster Jewish life, you might have known this. Alas, it doesn’t.”
US Ambassador to Belgium Bill White also condemned the decision, calling it “a shameful stain on Belgium.”
“The prosecution of these religious figures (mohels), one of whom is American, is WRONG and won’t be tolerated,” he wrote on X. “Belgium will be thought of now as anti-Semitic by the world. Until this is resolved, there is no way around it.”
The Trump administration hopes the Belgian government will work with Jewish leaders to find a solution immediately, he added.
Rabbi Kalman Ber attends a vote for the new Chief Ashkenazi rabbi, at the Chief Rabbinate headquarters in Jerusalem, October 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Jewish community representatives charged that last year’s raids against the mohels were part of a larger campaign of intimidation against Jewish religious figures in Belgium.
Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber, the president of the Chief Rabbinate Council, similarly criticized Belgian authorities over the decision, saying he was “shocked” to hear the news.
“It is deeply unfortunate that this country is joining the unflattering list of those carrying the banner of a war against Judaism, which is globally defined as antisemitism,” Ber wrote in an open letter shared by a Rabbinate spokesperson.
Ber called on Belgian authorities to reconsider the decision.
The Rabbinate spokesperson told The Times of Israel that a copy of the letter will be sent to the Belgian embassy in Israel.
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