An operator at a Belgian hotline set up after the Brussels terror attacks, who only referred to Palestine and not Israel regarding Israeli casualties, has been dismissed, Belgium’s ambassador to Israel John Cornet d'Elzius told i24news.

"I do not know if he will face charges but what I can say is that he (the telephone operator) no longer works at the crisis center and he was dismissed from office. This shows how much we took it seriously and how we are outraged by this attitude,’’ the ambassador added.

The incident occurred after a Jewish man trying to arrange the return of two Israeli casualties of last week’s terror attacks at Brussels Airport and a metro station, engaged in a spat with a Belgian helpline worker, Zakharia, who would only refer to the victims’ homeland as Palestine.

The caller, a volunteer at the Jewish coordination committee of Antwerp, asked about the police documents necessary for two victims of the airport attack to be discharged, and allowed to travel back to Israel.

35 people have been killed and 300 wounded in the suicide bombings.

“They will go back to Palestine,” said the helpline worker in reply. The caller says “not Palestine, Israel,” to which the worker replies, “but before it was Palestine.”

The conversation was recorded and posted by Joods Actueel, a Jewish publication in Antwerp.

The Jewish caller asked the responder’s name, to which he replied, Zakharia, a popular name in the Muslim world, particularly North Africa. Later, the help center worker refused to give his surname.

The caller asked “You don’t know Israel, only Palestine?”

“I know the Jews went there, that Palestine welcomed them and that there is a war between Israel and Palestine, of course. And the occupation…” replied Zakaria.

As the two continued to discuss details of transportation, Zakharia sticked to his statement referring to Israel as Palestine.

According to Ken Jacobson, deputy national director of the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL),“the barrage of anti-Israel sentiments coming out of Belgium – whether in media, intellectuals or BDS – inevitably leads to this kind of offensive behavior in which Israel is too often treated like a pariah or as if it doesn’t exist. Considering the real evils spreading through the Middle East, this treatment of Israel can only be seen as the latest version of European anti-Semitism.”

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon revealed this week that street celebrations had broken out in various cities in his country last week celebrating the Brussels terrorist attack.

The minister made the revelation during a speech at a conference organized by the Dutch pro-Israel group Center of Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI).

Jambon said that Islamists can be found among diverse groups “including doctors, lawyers, and common criminals.” Only one in six Belgian jihadists grew up in poor homes, he said.

Jambon’s comments followed criticism voiced by the leader of the government of the Flemish region of Belgium, Geert Bourgeois, who complained that the media did not air images of Muslims rioting after the arrest in Belgium earlier this month of Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

451 Belgian citizens have been classified as jihadists, with 117 of them back in Belgium after fighting with the Islamic State in Syria or Iraq.