Following concrete security warnings, Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, canceled his Jan. 28 visit to Brussels, where he was due to address a conference in the European Parliament on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and meet with the Jewish community.
Chikli acted “in light of concrete warnings and in accordance with the guidance of security officials,” the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem said.
“I regretted receiving instructions from security officials this evening to cancel my participation in the International Holocaust Remembrance Day events at the European Parliament,” Chikli said on Sunday. “Unfortunately, the capital of Europe has become an unsafe place for Jews and Israelis.”
According to Israel’s Kan News, Chikli canceled the trip over fears that anti-Israel groups would seek a warrant for his arrest. Belgian officials reportedly informed Jerusalem that Chikli would not enjoy diplomatic immunity, as he would not be there on an official visit to the country.
Tuesday’s event in the European Parliament, titled “Never Again? Indoctrinating hatred of Jews: What has changed in 80 years?” is co-hosted by Members of the European Parliament Lukas Mandl of Austria and Andrey Kovatchev of Bulgaria, in association with the European Jewish Association.
“The fact that in 2025, an Israeli minister was forced to cancel his visit to a Western European country for security reasons is more evidence than anything else that all the leaders’ ‘Never again’ declarations are hollow,” Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Associations, said on Sunday. “This year, International Holocaust Remembrance Day is more regrettable than ever—the worst since the Holocaust.”
This is an edited version of a story originally published by the European Jewish Press.
