Belgium summoned the U.S. ambassador to the nation for a meeting Tuesday after he accused the country of antisemitic prosecution of Jewish Belgians in a social media post.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot called comments from U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White “unacceptable” in a post on social platform X, saying “any suggestion that Belgium is antisemitic is false” and “offensive.”
“An ambassador accredited to Belgium has a responsibility to respect our institutions, our elected representatives, and the independence of our judicial system. Personal attacks against a Belgian minister and interference in judicial matters violate basic diplomatic norms,” Prévot wrote.
White called on the country to drop investigations against three mohels, or people who perform circumcisions, who were arrested in a raid in Antwerp in May. The arrests came as Belgium police looked for people illegally conducting ritual Jewish circumcisions.
