A Belgian investigation into ritual circumcisions in Antwerp has escalated into a diplomatic dispute after the United States ambassador, Bill White, publicly criticised the case and urged Belgian authorities to change the rules under which mohalim operate.
The controversy centres on three mohels—ritual circumcisers within Orthodox Jewish communities—who are under investigation in Antwerp over whether circumcisions were carried out without the medical supervision Belgian authorities consider required. Belgian ministers have rejected suggestions that the case reflects antisemitism, while also warning against foreign interference in domestic legal matters.
Antwerp’s Jewish quarter at centre of a rare US-Belgium diplomatic rift
In an EU Today interview recorded in Brussels, Ralph Pais, vice-president and spokesman of the Jewish Information & Documentation Centre (Joods Informatie- en Documentatiecentrum, JID) and vice-president of the Forum of Jewish Organisations, said the debate was being framed incorrectly.
“With regards to the circumcision, we should first maybe note that it’s not really a medical intervention,” Pais said. “It’s a religious ritual … done by people that are highly trained. We call them mohalim.” He added: “There has been … no incidents whatsoever reported ever in this country. So there’s no reason why all of a sudden this would cause trouble.”
Pais said the shock within the community was intensified by the manner in which the investigation has been handled. “There was a raid a few months ago at their homes,” he said. “They were questioned, their material was confiscated. They were treated like criminals.” He said those involved had carried out the ritual “for tens of years without any problems”.
The investigation itself began attracting wider attention after police searches in Antwerp in May 2025, when local reporting described house searches in the city’s Jewish quarter connected to suspected illegal circumcisions.
In Brussels, the issue gained a new dimension this week when Ambassador White intervened publicly, arguing that the Belgian process should allow mohels to practise legally. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot summoned the ambassador and said he had been reminded of diplomatic limits, while insisting Belgium’s fight against antisemitism was a priority and that the government would not comment on an active judicial case.
Pais told EU Today that the ambassador’s stance was unusual but, in his view, driven by concern about Jewish life in Belgium. “It is very unusual for an ambassador to intervene in local issues,” he said, adding that he had spoken to White and considered him “an incredible person”. Pais said the ambassador told him he had been asked “to really take care of the fight against anti-semitism”.
Pais argued that the consequences of a prosecution would extend beyond the three men under investigation. “Basic Jewish rights should be protected,” he said. “In a democracy … [it] is also measured in how they treat their minorities.” He warned that if circumcision were effectively prevented, “it’s the end of Jewish life in Belgium”, because, he said, “a Jewish person is only Jewish when he is circumcised”.
Belgian politics has been drawn in, with controversy around allegations that Michael Freilich, the N-VA’s Jewish MP, raised the Antwerp case with US contacts during a trip to Washington. Reporting this week described pressure within the governing coalition for clarification over Freilich’s actions, including calls for scrutiny of whether a Belgian judicial process was improperly influenced.
Pais addressed a related line of argument—widely aired in Belgian media—about whether the issue is fundamentally one of healthcare regulation. “There’s also misunderstanding I hear a lot in the press,” he said. “They say that medical interventions should be done by doctors … In our opinion … it is not a medical intervention. It’s purely a religious ritual.”
Asked about antisemitism more broadly, Pais said the problem had intensified across Europe. “There is a certain very bad trend going on in all the European capitals where anti-semitism has spiked,” he said, adding that the Middle East conflict had been “imported into our streets”. He said he believed the situation was “worse in Antwerp [and] in Brussels”, and attributed that to what he described as weak outcomes when Jewish community members report antisemitic incidents. “Nothing is coming out of it,” he said. “There’s no prosecution. Everything is dropped.”
Against that backdrop, the ambassador’s intervention became entangled with a second row, after Belgian politician Conner Rousseau rejected White’s demand for an apology over a social media post in which Rousseau criticised US immigration enforcement. White reportedly threatened diplomatic consequences, while Belgian figures argued the ambassador had overstepped.
Prévot, meanwhile, has responded publicly to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar after Sa’ar criticised Belgium over antisemitism and the Antwerp case, with Prévot disputing the claims and pointing to Belgian mechanisms for coordination with Jewish community representatives.
For Pais, the immediate concern remains the legal jeopardy facing the three mohels. “They want to prosecute,” he said. “You will see a trend that has already started that the Jews will leave this country.” He added: “I do not want any privilege. I just want to live a normal open Jewish life as a Belgian citizen.”
