Belgium deploys soldiers to reinforce security at Jewish sites

BRUSSELS, March 23 (Reuters) - Soldiers were deployed on the streets of leading Belgian cities on Monday to bolster security for the Jewish ​community, after what officials said were antisemitic attacks in ‌Belgium and the Netherlands.

The move follows an explosion this month at a synagogue in Liege that authorities called an antisemitic act.

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“From today we’re putting soldiers back ​on the streets in Brussels and Antwerp because safety ​is a basic right,” Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken ⁠said in a post on X on Monday.

The deployment, in ​collaboration with federal police, will provide security at Jewish sites including ​synagogues and schools, Belgian authorities said in a press release last week.

Antwerp “is again a little safer… the Jewish community too. We say NO to ​antisemitism!” Francken said on Monday.

Item 1 of 2 Belgian army personnel patroll a street as part of a deployment of soldiers outside Jewish institutions in Antwerp and Brussels following attacks at Jewish sites in Belgium and other European countries, in Antwerp, Belgium, March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman

**[1/2]**Belgian army personnel patroll a street as part of a deployment of soldiers outside Jewish institutions in Antwerp and Brussels following attacks at Jewish sites in Belgium and other European countries, in Antwerp, Belgium, March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

The upgrade in security also follows ​an arson attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam and an explosion at a Jewish school ‌in ⁠Amsterdam in neighbouring The Netherlands.

Dutch police have arrested five suspects, aged 17 to 19, over the synagogue attack in Rotterdam.

The U.S. embassy in Oslo was also targeted in a bombing earlier this ​month branded by ​Norwegian investigators as ⁠an act of terrorism. None of the attacks caused injuries.

A Belgian defence ministry spokesperson said on ​Monday that soldiers would be deployed in three ​different ⁠phases: First in Brussels and Antwerp, later in Liege.

Rights advocates have raised concerns about possible attacks against Jewish communities around the world following ⁠the ​launch of the U.S. and Israeli war ​with Iran. Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish community organisation in north London were ​set ablaze on Monday.

Reporting by Alexander Chituc, Editing by William Maclean

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