Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Jambon said that his government has made the battle against radical and violent extremism and terrorism a top priority since the terrorist attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels in 2014 which left four people dead. He

He pledged continued security for Jewish institutions and vowed to promote democratic values as “an “antidote” for the messages spread by hate preachers.”

Jambon addressed an annual Euro Menorah Chanukah lighting event organised by the European Jewish Association (EJA), an umbrella group of Jewish organisations, at the Schuman roundabout, in the midst of the European Union institutions in Brussels. The lighting ceremony, followed by songs and dances, was attended by several hundred people.

His address followed the recent spiked terror alert in the Belgian capital in the wake of the Paris attacks.

The minister acknowledged that ‘’we are not going to dismantle the ideological frameworks of Islamic State and similar organizations as easy as that.’’

‘’Their anti-Semitism is impossible to erase at the blink of an eye,’’ he said.

He mentioned two field of actions where the government can contribute : reinforce security, ‘’even though zeo risk is completely impossible’, and defend and promote our democratic values and norms.

The minister said the Belgian government has adopted a package of no less than 30 measures to reinforce security, including the adaptation of the legislation to punish terrorism more effectively. ‘’All those who went off fighting in Syria or Iraq and return to our country will irrevocably be put in prison,’’ he said, adding that ‘’people know to us as preachers of hatred or extreme violence are controlled more tghtky than before.’’

Since mid-January, soldiers guard sensitive buildings and locations who are under increased threat level, like international institutions and embassies, but also synagogues and other Jewish sites and institutions, both in Brussels and Antwerp, wher most of Jews are living.

The government, Jambon said, has allocated 4 million euros for the security of the Jewish community, to be used for camera surveillance, armored windows and doors, alarm systems.

But he stressed that ‘’for us it is unacceptable that whole communities feel unsafe and would hesitate to stay in our country for that reason.’’

He also noted that the battle against violent fundamentalism and terrorism need to be done on European level. ‘’We have to devote maximum efforts to the exchange of data,’’ he said.

But according to the minister, apart from repressive measures, ‘’we must also work on prevention.’’ ‘’It is extremely important that we promote our democratic values and norms to form an ‘’antidote’’ for the messages spread by hate preachers.’’ ‘’Today, lots of young Muslims only hear one bell, one ideology. We must make efforts to gain access to their bubble.’’

EJA Director-General Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Director General thanked the minister for his address which, he said, “in light of the recent terror alert was a sign of his government’s commitment to ensuring the security of all communities co-existing in Belgium”.

Rabbi Avi Tawil, Director of the European Jewish Community Centre (EJCC), who co-hosted the event, referenced the growing safety concerns of European Jewish communities, as he insisted that “today more than ever, we, as a society, have the duty to celebrate life- not to hide in fear”. “We have to double our efforts to hold commemorations which express our respect for life and freedom outside in public places, more than ever before,” he added.

He concluded: “We are here to light a candle, to bring increasingly more light, to unite for a happy occasion. Not under a common threat but for a common hope. A hope of peace and unity that will surely be a role model to many.“