Chief rabbi slams Belgian authorities over criminal charges against Jewish mohels

Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber, the president of the Chief Rabbinate Council, criticizes Belgian authorities over the decision by the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office to press criminal charges against three Jewish mohels for performing circumcisions.

“I was shocked to hear that law enforcement authorities in Belgium have filed charges against three mohels,” the rabbi writes in an open letter shared by a Rabbinate spokesperson. “It is deeply unfortunate that this country is joining the unflattering list of those carrying the banner of a war against Judaism, which is globally defined as antisemitism.”

Circumcision for religious reasons is legal in Belgium, but must be performed by a licensed medical practitioner.

However, Jewish community representatives have charged that the raids against the mohels were part of a larger campaign of intimidation against Jewish religious figures in Belgium.

“The claim that circumcisions can be performed by physicians rather than certified mohels, on the grounds that the latter lack surgical training, is fundamentally flawed,” Ber says. “History shows that since the Jewish people became a people, long before there is any document about the residents of Europe, mohels have been the ones to circumcise Jewish children.”

Ber calls on Belgian authorities to reconsider the decision. The Rabbinate spokesperson tells The Times of Israel that a copy of the letter will be sent to the Belgian embassy in Israel.

Earlier today, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot reiterated that the Belgian judiciary is independent and makes its decisions free from any political influence.