Belgium’s prime minister vowed Monday to fight anti-Semitism by leading an investigation by prosecutors in charge of organized crime and terrorism after a synagogue in eastern Belgium was vandalized.
The explosion took place in front of the synagogue around 4:00 am (0300 GMT), police said, and there were no injuries.
“Anti-Semitism is an attack on our values and our society, and we must fight it unequivocally. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in Liège and across the country,” Prime Minister Bart de Wever said on social media.
Interior Minister Bernard Quintin criticized the “despicable act of anti-Semitism that directly targets the Jewish community in Belgium”.
“Security measures around similar sites will continue to be expanded,” Quintin said in a social media post.
Willy Demeyer, the mayor of Liège, where the synagogue is located, condemned what he described as an “anti-Semitic act”.
“We will not allow foreign conflicts to be imported into our city,” he told public broadcaster RTBF, in an apparent reference to a Middle East war triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
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‘material damage’
The early morning blast blew out windows in buildings across the street from the synagogue, a police spokesman said, adding that there was “only material damage”.
A security perimeter was quickly set up with police at the scene.
The federal prosecutor’s office, which handles organized crime and terrorism cases, will lead the investigation, a spokesman told AFP.
The office is expected to release more information later Monday.
Built in 1899, the Liège Synagogue also serves as a museum of the history of the city’s Jewish community, according to the temple’s website.
Belgium’s Jewish community numbers 50,000, mainly in Antwerp and Brussels, and Jewish places of worship have been subject to increased security measures on occasion in recent years.
Belgian authorities stepped up security measures following the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
At that time the authorities indicated an increase in anti-Semitic acts in Belgium.
(With FRANCE 24 AFP)
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