Belgium’s Interior Minister Bernard Quintin on Thursday reversed a decision to withdraw police security forces from Antwerp’s Jewish district starting in January.
Earlier this week, Antwerp Mayor Els van Doesburg announced that the 16 federal police officers assigned to protect the city’s Jewish quarter will no longer be deployed after January 1.
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.”
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.”
Quintin’s reversal of the decision followed strong pressure from the country’s Jewish leaders, including Jewish MP Michael Freilich.
The European Jewish Association (EJA) said in a statement it "welcomes the decision by Belgium’s Minister of the Interior to maintain the deployment of federal police units in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter, reversing an earlier plan that had caused deep concern within the Jewish community and beyond."
"This decision follows direct engagement with elected officials and Jewish representatives and sends an important message: the safety of Jewish life is a core responsibility of the state and cannot be subject to uncertainty or gradual erosion," the statement said.
"The EJA wishes to express its sincere appreciation to Minister of the Interior Bernard Quintin for listening carefully to these concerns and for acting decisively to prevent any security vacuum."
"We also commend MP Michael Freilich, who raised the issue forcefully in Parliament," concluded the statement.