Synagogue in Belgium damaged in blast, no injuries; mayor: ‘Violent act of antisemitism’

A synagogue was damaged in a blast early Monday in Liege, eastern Belgium, police said, in an incident denounced by the mayor as an “extremely violent act of antisemitism.”

No injuries were reported, with “only material damage,” a spokesman for the police in the city said in a statement.

Police cordoned off the street while a specialized counter-terrorism team investigated the incident.

The blast took place around 4:00 a.m. in front of the synagogue, blowing out the windows of the buildings across the road, the police spokesman said.

Liege Mayor Willy Demeyer expressed his “utter condemnation of this extremely violent act of antisemitism” in an interview with RTBF.

“There can be no question of importing external conflicts into our city,” he said, in an apparent reference to the Middle East.

A local resident told the outlet that they heard a large explosion.

“We were woken up by the noise, and then, when we went downstairs, we saw that everything had been blown out,” the unnamed individual said.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever issued a statement on X condemning the attack.

“Antisemitism is an attack on our values and our society, and we must fight it unequivocally,” De Wever wrote. “We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in Liège and across the country.”

MP Michael Freilich, Belgium’s only Orthodox Jewish lawmaker, responded that government inaction on antisemitism had created an environment that made such incidents possible.

“When antisemitism isn’t a priority for the public prosecutor’s office — with dozens of dismissed cases — it creates a climate of impunity,” Freilich wrote on X. “Physical attacks are, unfortunately, the predictable result. The once-promised zero tolerance for antisemitism is now colliding with an oversaturated justice system. My appeal to the government: finally address this.”

Built in 1899, the synagogue also serves as a museum for the history of Liege’s Jewish community.

Antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiments have skyrocketed in Belgium since the start of the war sparked by the devastating Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Attacks such as verbal abuse, intimidation, physical violence, and graffiti continue to occur in the 30,000-strong Jewish community on a weekly basis, Ralph Pais, vice-chair of the Jewish Information and Documentation Centre (JID), said in December.