Overview
- Ambassador Bill White posted on X urging Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke to end what he called a "ridiculous" and "antisemitic" prosecution and to allow mohels to perform their duties legally.
- White said he will travel to Antwerp next week to meet the mohels, alleging Vandenbroucke refused a handshake and had indicated he would not intervene, and he invited politician Conner Rousseau to join.
- The probe traces to 2024 Antwerp police raids after a complaint by Rabbi Moshe Friedman about mohels practicing metzitzah b’peh, a custom involving oral suction during circumcision.
- Belgian law requires circumcisions to be performed by licensed medical professionals, and public-health officials have linked metzitzah b’peh to infection risks seen in past New York cases.
- Belgian officials have not publicly responded; one outlet reported prosecutors have moved forward with charges against three individuals with no trial date announced, while earlier reports noted no arrests at the time of the raids.