The Jewish community in Antwerp will no longer receive military protection as part of a new government plan seeking to reduce the presence of soldiers in urban centers.
"This plan is causing real alarm in the rank-and-file of the Jewish community of Antwerp," Hans Knoop, a spokesman for the Forum of Jewish Organizations of the Flemish Region of Belgium, or FJO, told the Jewish Telegraph Agency.
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"Neither the actual threat nor the government's own assessment of it has diminished," said Knoop.
Thousands of soldiers were deployed across the country following the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher attacks in Paris, which left 12 people dead.
The cost of deploying the soldiers to the Jewish quarter of Antwerp remains unclear, but JTA speculated that the number is relatively low given how few soldiers are stationed in the area.
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"We have our concerns about the new cabinet, but have no reason to believe the deployment issue is connected to any anti-Semitism," Knoop said.
Some 18,000 Jews are believed to currently live in the city of Antwerp.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
