“If we are not allowed to do Brit Milah anymore, Jewish life in Belgium is over, it’s finished, because it’s one of the conditions to be Jewish,” Ralph Pais, vice president of Belgium’s Jewish Information and Documentation Centre (JID) and Forum of Jewish Organizations (FJO), told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The conversation came amid rumours that Belgium may be looking to ban circumcision, which reignited after a public argument on Monday between the US ambassador to Belgium<\/a>, Bill White, and Deputy PM Maxime Pr\u00e9vot.<\/p>\n White took to X to demand that Belgium end an investigation into mohels who may have been using unsafe practices while circumcising Jewish babies.<\/p>\n \u201cYou must make a legal provision to allow Jewish religious MOHELS to perform their duties here in Belgium. It\u2019s done in all civilized counties as legal procedure,\u201d White tweeted. \u201cBELGIUM is a civilized country. Stop this unacceptable harassment of the Jewish community here in Antwerp and in Belgium. It\u2019s 2026, you need to get into the 21st century and allow our brethren Jewish families in Belgium to legally execute their religious freedoms!\u201d<\/p>\n Pr\u00e9vot retorted that any suggestion that Belgium is antisemitic is “false, offensive, and unacceptable” and claimed that “Belgian law permits ritual circumcision when performed by a qualified physician under strict health and safety standards.”<\/p>\n White\u2019s post comes nearly a year after Belgian authorities raided multiple sites, including two in Antwerp’s Jewish Quarter, at the outset of an investigation into illegal circumcisions. The Antwerp raids stemmed from a complaint made by a member of the Jewish community named Moshe Friedman, a local rabbi, who filed a police complaint against six mohels<\/a> who practice metzitzah b\u2019peh, a custom in which the circumciser cleans the circumcision wound with oral suction.<\/p>\n “After the raid in Antwerp, everyone was in shock. It was at 6 a.m., they came to three very well-known mohelim, who have done this for tens of years already. They took their material, and they questioned them, and they said ‘we’re going to open an investigation.'”<\/p>\n Pais stressed that the Belgian Jewish community is not against a framework like there is in many other countries, where they combine religious practice and medical safety (to ensure safeguarding).<\/p>\n “I think it’s our right to live freely as Jews here, to have our traditions. But there should be an opening in order to discuss those things.”<\/p>\n “So either they tell us, look, it’s finished, and we prefer that you leave [Belgium]. I prefer that they are clear. If they do not want us anymore, this is the way to do it. Or they have a normal, respectful conversation with their minority, because we are a minority, and try to accommodate our needs and try to also have a little bit of understanding for what the pillars of our religion are and how important that is for us.”<\/p>\n Pais recognizes that Belgian public opinion is somewhat against circumcision, and the practice is relatively uncommon in the country. Nevertheless, he said they should understand that religious freedom is an important part of a democracy.<\/p>\n Regarding the claim that the investigation is only into unsafe circumcision practitioners, and not the practice as a whole, Pais said this is not the case, and that the authorities are working toward a blanket ban.<\/p>\n Pais acknowledged that the original complaint came from within the Jewish community and was filed by Moshe Friedman. However, he stressed that Friedman is not a representative figure.<\/p>\n