US ambassador lashes out at Belgian minister and speaks of ‘anti-Semitism’
In a post on X, the US ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, strongly criticises the “very rude” Belgian minister of health Frank Vandenbroucke. In the post, White talks about anti-Semitism and the “anti Semitic prosecution” of three mohels, Jewish ritual circumcisers.
The case White refers to appears to concern the raids carried out by the Antwerp police at the homes of three mohels in May last year and the accompanying investigation by the Antwerp public prosecutor's office. The Antwerp public prosecutor's office announced that the investigation was focusing on medical procedures and circumcisions performed without the intervention of a doctor.
In his message, White calls for the possible prosecution of three mohels to be stopped. According to White, these ritual circumcisers are doing something “they have been trained to do for thousands of years”.
The ambassador then directs his criticism directly at Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke of Vooruit, the Flemish socialist party. White calls on him to intervene. According to the ambassador, Belgium must “allow our brethren Jewish families in Belgium to legally execute their religious freedoms”.
He calls on Vandenbroucke to act immediately and not "wait for this case to end”. According to White, this was Vandenbroucke's “sneaky tactic” - something that came up during an earlier meeting, at which Vandenbroucke "refused to shake my hand or be photographed with me in your conference room".
“It was clear that you dislike America, the country that fought and where tens of thousands of our nation’s sons died for Belgium’s freedom twice - in WWI & in WWII,” he said.
Finally, White announced that he would travel to Antwerp next week to meet the mohels involved and their families. He called on Vandenbroucke and Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau to accompany him and repeated that the situation was “disgusting” due to Vandenbroucke's “inaction”.
US ambassador to Belgium Bill White © BELGA PHOTO KURT DESPLENTER
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