US envoy plays down Belgian summons over antisemitism row

The US ambassador in Brussels downplays a diplomatic spat after he was summoned by Belgium’s foreign minister for attacking legal proceedings he said were “antisemitic” in the country.

US envoy Bill White upset the Belgian government by demanding on X that authorities drop the “ridiculous and antisemitic prosecution” of three mohels, men who carry out circumcisions according to Jewish law.

That claim drew an immediate rebuke from Belgium’s foreign minister Maxime Prevot and saw White summoned for talks.

“Any suggestion that Belgium is antisemitic is false, offensive, and unacceptable,” Prevot said.

The Belgian foreign ministry said that White, a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump, had been reminded about the “limits of the functions of an ambassador accredited to a country” at a meeting.

“Any interference in Belgium’s internal affairs constitutes a violation of these essential diplomatic rules,” it said.

Speaking to AFP, White seeks to brush off the row.

“I know Belgium isn’t antisemitic, but inaction on this particular case could have antisemitic optics,” he says.

He says he had told senior Belgian officials, including Prevot that “we are friends forever, and we can have disagreements”.

The case highlighted by White involved an investigation launched last year in the city of Antwerp into three mohels suspected of carrying out circumcisions without proper medical training.

White said in his original post on X that he intended to go to Antwerp to meet the men involved.