Belgium denies soldiers guarding Brussels synagogues had no bullets

In the wake of last month’s deadly terror attacks, senior rabbi charged local authorities ‘know nothing about security’

Belgium’s Defense Ministry denied reports that some soldiers had guarded synagogues in Brussels without ammunition in their rifles.

The denial last week by the ministry’s press department came in response to a claim that a senior Brussels rabbi, Menachem Hadad of the Shomre Hadas ultra-Orthodox community, made on March 24 following a series of terrorist attacks two days earlier that killed 32 people in the Belgian capital.

“The authorities here, and I won’t speak ill of them, but they have no understanding of security issues — zero,” Hadad said in an interview with Israel’s Army Radio. “For example, for months we had soldiers guarding the Beit Chabad and the synagogue, and we spoke to them and some had no ammunition for their rifles. They had no bullets. It was just a show. It’s not normal.”

Queried by JTA for its reaction to the claim, a ministry spokesman replied via email that “since January 2015 the Defense Ministry aids the federal police in protecting certain areas. To do this, soldiers receive standard equipment necessary for operational intervention, including weapons and ammunition.”

The unnamed spokesman further wrote the ministry will not elaborate on its rules of engagement “for security reasons.”