Belgium deploys troops after antisemitic attacks

Belgian authorities deployed troops on Monday to bolster security for the Jewish community following antisemitic attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Antwerp ‘is a little safer again … and the Jewish community too. We reject antisemitism!’ Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said on Monday. A spokesman for the Belgian defence ministry said soldiers would be deployed in three phases, first in Brussels and Antwerp, and later in Liège.

Belgium took the measure after a 9 March explosion in Liège, which officials described as an antisemitic act. The deployment of troops, in cooperation with police, is intended to protect Jewish sites, including synagogues and schools, the authorities said in a statement last week.

Security has also been stepped up following an arson attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam and the bombing of a Jewish school in Amsterdam. Dutch police arrested five people aged 17 to 19 in connection with the Rotterdam attack. Reuters reported that no one was injured in either incident.

Human rights advocates have expressed concern about possible attacks on Jewish communities worldwide in the wake of the US–Israeli war on Iran.

(reuters, im)