US Ambassador Pledges Synagogue Security After Brussels Window Damage

U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White visited the Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Anderlecht on Saturday with Israeli Ambassador David Saranga, pledging to raise money for stronger security after a stone broke a third-floor window in late October.

White called the damage an antisemitic act and said he would ask Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken and Interior Minister Bernard Quintin to station soldiers near the building on Kliniekstraat.

The circumstances remained unclear, however. Local police told BRUZZ that no complaint alleging antisemitism had been filed. Inspector Marc Wachtelaer said police had spoken with the synagogue two days earlier, when those involved were still unsure whether the stone had fallen from the roof. He said it could have been an accident or something else.

White said the visit was made at President Trump's request to express solidarity with the Jewish community. Saranga called for added protection for the Anderlecht synagogue and said Jews should not have to choose between their faith and their safety.

Philippe Markiewicz, president of Belgium's Central Jewish Consistory, also attended. He said local, regional and federal authorities already do much to protect Jewish communities.

White also proposed a neighborhood event celebrating religious freedom and peace, saying he and Saranga planned to meet Morocco's ambassador to Belgium to discuss it.