Antwerp Mayor Els van Doesburg announced Tuesday that the 16 federal police officers assigned to protect the city’s Jewish quarter will no longer be deployed after January 1, reported the Belga news agency.
The decision, confirmed later by Interior Minister Bernard Quintin, raises serious concern in light of continued security threats facing Jewish communities in Belgium.
Van Doesburg revealed the plan during an appearance on a local talk show, emphasizing the timing just days after the deadly shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney that left 15 people dead. The mayor underscored the need to maintain security around Jewish institutions, calling the federal withdrawal “incomprehensible” and warning, “There must be no vacuum in the safety of Antwerp’s Jewish quarter.”
She added, “This is something we have to do together. It goes beyond the Antwerp police.”
On Monday, the Antwerp branch of Vlaams Belang had urged extra protection for Jewish schools and institutions during a city council meeting. However, instead of strengthening local security, the existing federal deployment will be discontinued.
A statement from Van Doesburg’s office to the Belga news agency confirmed, “The minister of the Interior has decided that security by federal agents will be discontinued from January 1.”
Since 2014, Belgium’s Jewish community has lived under an elevated threat level, prompting joint security operations between local and federal police in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter. The federal withdrawal will now halve the protection presence there.
Quintin told local authorities that the “deployment of the federal reserve should not be a structural measure for Antwerp.” He clarified that “the decision taken simply means that 16 Brussels federal police officers, who were temporarily assigned as reinforcements, will be redeployed to their original station.”
Despite the pullout, Quintin insisted that “the security of Jewish sites remains an absolute priority.”
Jewish community leaders strongly criticized the move, rejecting Quintin’s explanation and calling it a “political decision.”
Member of Parliament Michael Freilich vowed that efforts were underway to maintain full protection. “We are doing everything to solve the problem. There will be maximum security - regular police, federal officers, or soldiers. We will not leave the community without protection.”
He noted that legislation must be amended before soldiers can perform police duties, adding, “The law is expected to be ready by the summer.”
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