‘A scarlet letter’: FM Sa’ar slams Belgium for prosecuting three Jewish men for circumcising without medical license

An indictment against three Belgian mohels, experts in the Jewish ritual practice of circumcision, drew harsh condemnations on Wednesday from Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, as well as senior rabbis and the American envoy to the kingdom.

Sa’ar criticized the decision in a post on 𝕏, kicking off a back-and-forth with his Belgian colleague, Maxime Prevot.

“Belgium have just announced the indictment of the three Mohels who were investigated last year in Antwerp. With this act Belgium joins a short and shameful list, together with Ireland, of countries that use criminal law to prosecute Jews for practicing Judaism,” wrote Sa’ar.

“This is a scarlet letter on Belgian society. The Brith Mila is the cornerstone of Jewish faith. Many countries in Europe and around the world have created legal frameworks to facilitate the birth and Jewish religious freedom in their countries.”

Minister @prevotmaxime, I am afraid your comments on the ״judiciary’s independence״ completely miss the point.
There should never have been such an investigation, had the issue of Brit Milah been regulated like in other European countries that respect Jewish religious freedom.… https://t.co/0U9tn9xhCh

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) May 6, 2026

Prevot responded by ridiculing Sa’ar’s description of the case as a “caricature,” stressing that the Belgian judiciary makes independent decisions.

“I recall that the proceedings in question were initiated by representatives of the Jewish community themselves,” Prevot added.

The case began in 2023 when an anti-Zionist Jewish activist called Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Friedman filed police complaints against six mohels for allegedly endangering children through an ancient custom called metzitzah b’peh, where the mohel removes blood via oral suction after the circumcision, which was seen in the past as preventing infections.

Modern medicine has shown that the practice can lead to dangerous infections, particularly Herpes. Today, a sterile pipette is used in the majority of cases instead.

In May 2025, the Antwerp police detained several mohels in their homes, not on suspicion of the controversial custom but on the general allegation of performing a medical intervention without a medical license. Three of them were now indicted.

The Belgian police’s actions received a strong condemnation by 60 rabbis and Jewish community leaders, who said they “represent a breach of an E.U. fundamental right, that of freedom of religion,” in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Jewish communities across Europe “remain horrified of what took place in Antwerp” they wrote, noting the arrests echoed “one of the darkest chapters in European history.”

Prevot continued, “To portray those as a country’s desire to undermine the religious freedom of Jews is defamatory. This freedom has never been called into question and never will be in our country. Our Constitution protects it.”

In return, Sa’ar answered again by charging that Prevot had missed the point of his comments.

“There should never have been such an investigation, had the issue of Brit Milah been regulated like in other European countries that respect Jewish religious freedom. Especially so in a country with one of the oldest Jewish communities in Europe. Had Belgium had a strategic plan to fight antisemitism and foster Jewish life, you might have known this. Alas, it doesn’t,” he wrote.

The highly unusual criminalization of Jewish ritual practices was strongly criticized by Bill White, the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, calling it “a shameful stain” and warning that the Trump administration strongly opposes the arrests, which included an American citizen.

“Belgium will be thought of now as anti Semitic by world. Until this is resolved – there is no way around it.”

“We call upon the Belgium Government to work with the Jewish leaders and communities to find a certification solution immediately,” wrote White.

White had been summoned for a formal rebuke earlier this year after telling Belgium’s health minister in a public statement that “Antisemitism is not acceptable in any form. In particular, you must stop the ridiculous and antisemitic 'prosecution' of the three mohalim in Antwerp! They are doing what they were trained to do for thousands of years.”

Israel’s Chief Rabbi, Kalman Meir Ber, noted in a strongly worded protest letter that the fulfillment of the Biblical commandment of circumcision is “one of the defining signs of a Jew, wherever he may be.”

“History teaches us how Jews in all periods and across the world, since becoming a nation, have sacrificed themselves for this important commandment. I call on the authorities to reconsider this hasty step, to take into account the harm to Jewish communities worldwide, and to withdraw this unprecedented prosecution,” wrote Ber.

“Words cannot fully express my dismay at this matter. It is deeply regrettable that this country is joining an unflattering list of those carrying the banner of a struggle against Judaism – what is globally defined as antisemitism,” Ber charged.

“This reminds us of one of the decrees imposed by Antiochus on the Jews during the Hellenistic rule over the Land of Israel. This is a decree that outrages every Jewish soul, and the public will not remain silent in the face of such a phenomenon.”

He also noted that mohels have performed circumcisions for centuries, which aren’t “merely a surgical procedure, and there are halachic requirements that doctors are generally unfamiliar with and do not meet for fulfilling this commandment.”

Belgium has seen a drastic rise in antisemitic incidents in recent years. Already in 2022, it was ranked alongside Poland as the least friendly countries overall to Jews, according to a survey by the European Jewish Association (EJA).

Since the 2023 Hamas invasion, the Belgian government has been at the forefront of criticism against the Israeli government’s war policies. In 2024, it joined several other countries in support of South Africa’s “genocide case” against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Last month, Belgium deployed military personnel to protect the Jewish community amid rising antisemitism and several attacks against Jews.

Belgium is home to around 30,000 Jews as well as a large Muslim population reportedly numbering between 600,000 to 800,0000 people. Both population groups are mainly concentrated in the capital city of Brussels and other major cities, such as Antwerp.