2023-10-09 14:07:00
The Antwerp Jewish community has asked its members to close the doors and windows of the city’s many Jewish institutions until further notice. This advice is part of the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since Saturday. According to the coordination committee of the Jewish communities of Antwerp, the police presence around Jewish institutions, such as schools and synagogues, will remain reinforced as was the case this weekend. The community itself deployed additional volunteers through its own security service, Shmira, to monitor the situation. For the moment, no specific threat has been reported or observed in Belgium and in Antwerp in particular.
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The mayor of Antwerp Bart De Wever (N-VA) said he was “taking all necessary measures to ensure security”, but he neither confirmed nor denied an additional police presence near Jewish institutions. “Since the withdrawal of military units from our streets in 2021, security around Jewish institutions has decreased significantly despite the best efforts of local police forces,” declared N-VA MP Michael Freilich, who is calling on the federal government to send “a clear signal” to respond to the concern within his community. “In such a tense climate, it is irresponsible not to take additional security measures.” In Brussels, Jewish and Israeli institutions are subject to more frequent patrols.
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In Le Soir, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) indicated that the threat level around Jewish institutions, such as the Jewish Museum, will not be increased for the moment. In Belgium, places of worship and Jewish schools as well as grocery stores and associations already benefit from reinforced security, especially since the 2014 attack once morest the Jewish Museum in Brussels. If Jewish interests are still placed at a high level by Ocam (the Coordinating Body for Threat Analysis), no information has been communicated on a possible increase in the threat level.
Local police areas across the country are called upon to observe “active vigilance”, said Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden. “Which involves, for example, calling for additional personnel and adapting patrol patterns. Jewish schools and places of worship will be subject to increased monitoring.”
Note also that dual nationals who have completed their military service in Israel and who today live in Belgium can be requisitioned by the Israeli army for 40 years, unless they are rejected for medical reasons.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict – Between 10,000 and 15,000 Belgians in Israel and Palestine
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