BRUSSELS — Belgium summoned the U.S. ambassador on Tuesday after he published posts on social media accusing officials of antisemitism over an investigation into Jewish religious figures suspected of carrying out circumcisions without required medical training.
The unusual spat comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Europe. The ambassador, Bill White, is less than four months into his stint in Brussels after an appointment by President Donald Trump.
“TO BELGIUM, SPECIFICALLY YOU MUST DROP THE RIDICULOUS AND ANTI SEMITIC ‘PROSECUTION’ NOW OF THE 3 JEWISH RELIGIOUS FIGURES (MOHELS),” White wrote in a post on X, tagging Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others. Mohels conduct Jewish ritual circumcisions.
White singled out for criticism Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke, calling him “very rude and quite obnoxious.”
“I was told he does not like my great President,” White wrote.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said Monday night that he had summoned the ambassador. “Personal attacks against a Belgian minister and interference in judicial matters violate basic diplomatic norms,” he said.
“Any suggestion that Belgium is antisemitic is false, offensive, and unacceptable. Belgium condemns antisemitism with the greatest firmness,” Prévot wrote.
The U.S. Embassy in Belgium did not respond to a request for comment.
At the meeting on Tuesday, the Belgian Foreign Ministry said its secretary general, Theodora Gentzis, reminded White of diplomatic rules and “the principle of the separation of powers in our democracy” — officials are expected not to intervene in an independent judicial system.
The ministry said Belgium “attaches great importance” to its “essential” partnership with the U.S. “We remain open to dialogue,” the statement said. “However, this dialogue must be based on respect for our institutions and our sovereignty.”
Under Belgian law, medical procedures must be performed by licensed practitioners. Belgian authorities are investigating three mohels for failing to comply after police conducted house searches last year in the city of Antwerp, home to the majority of Belgium’s Jewish community.
The dispute comes as tensions simmer between European governments and the Trump administration, which has lambasted European policies on digital regulation, moderation of hate speech, climate and migration, amid disputes over tariffs and the United States’ proposed acquisition of Greenland.
A public online dispute between a diplomat and their host government is highly atypical, all the more so among longtime allies. But some of Trump’s appointees have bristled as the traditional strictures of diplomacy, following the U.S. president’s unrestrained style.
The U.S. ambassador to Poland, Thomas Rose, last month declared on social media that he would sever contact with the speaker of the country’s Parliament for failing support Trump’s bid for the Nobel Peace Prize. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk intervened, telling the ambassador, “allies should respect each other, not lecture each other.”
In Belgium, White described his meeting at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday as pleasant. He toldreporters there was “no need” for an apology and that it was his duty to defend religious freedom.”
“I have so many fantastic friends here in Belgium. Belgium is not antisemitic,” he said, according to Flemish public broadcaster VRT.
Members of the Trump administration have levied a wide array of accusations of antisemitism over the past year, including as part of a sweeping campaign to exert more control over elite universities.
White came under scrutiny from some Senate Democrats last year for social media posts using profane language and reposts tied to a Belgian far-right politician convicted of racism and Holocaust denial.
The clash this week quickly drew backlash from various Belgian lawmakers and politicians.
“Mister Ambassador,” lawmaker Kjell Vander Elst posted. “As a member of parliament, elected by the Belgian People, my free advice to you: MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.”
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in his own post to X, praised White’s antisemitism accusations, prompting a response from the Belgian foreign minister.
“Tens of thousands of ritual circumcisions are performed legally in Belgium every year, without any interference,” Prévot wrote. “Presenting this as persecution of Jewish life is a distortion of the facts.”
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