Belgium deploys soldiers to protect Jewish sites and combat crime

Belgium’s Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said Tuesday that rather than waiting for someone to be injured in another antisemitic attack, he was deploying soldiers across Belgium to protect Jewish communities.

The rollout started Monday evening, with some 200 soldiers assigned to guard institutions like Jewish schools, the Jewish museum and the Israeli embassy for a period of three months. The step follows a March 9 explosion at a synagogue in Liège and was announced last week.

On the sidelines of a media event Tuesday evening at the Great Synagogue of Europe in Brussels to promote the deployment, POLITICO asked Quintin whether he feared future attacks could cause casualties. “I don’t want to wait for that moment,” he answered.

“That’s why we are taking these measures. We have to ensure the security of these specific places for the Jewish community. We must do everything we can to prevent attacks on people and also to stop all the attacks … [on Jewish] buildings,” he added. “Our job is to protect everybody.”

As for whether soldiers will do a better job of providing security than police, Belgium’s Defense Minister Theo Francken told POLITICO: “They are not replacing anything — this is in addition to the police force. The police force remains the first responder … and has the responsibility for the public domain in Belgium. But we have to do more because there are threats to the Jewish community.”

“Before the soldier deployment, policeman protected the Israeli embassy in Brussels by their own, like this Monday afternoon.” | Ferdinand Knapp/POLITICO

Speaking on the sidelines of the same event, Francken added that he would address the rules of engagement for the soldiers in parliament next week.

Belgium previously debated deploying troops to combat drug crime last year, and will move ahead with the plan in the coming weeks.

A defense ministry spokesperson said Belgium’s federal police are coordinating the deployment of both soldiers and police officers. Soldiers are expected to help guard train stations and support police in large-scale coordinated operations.

The decision to deploy troops was not supported by all government members. Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden criticized the move last week and said it had been taken without proper consultation.