A ban on circumcision or Jewish ritual slaughter usually marks the beginning of an era of persecution. One of the first decrees of King Antiochus back in the day banned bris milah. More recently, the Nazis banned shechitah as early as 1933, an edict that became incorporated into the infamous 1935 Nuremberg Laws.

So Jews in Belgium are understandably on edge with the coming indictment of three mohels.

Belgian lawmakers decided Wednesday to indict the three men for what they alleged was unlawfully performing the procedure, which under Belgian law must be performed by a certified surgeon. Traditionally, mohels tend not to be certified surgeons.

The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, and the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, blasted the decision.

“Belgium joins a short and shameful list, together with Ireland, of countries that use criminal law to prosecute Jews for practicing Judaism,” Sa’ar wrote on X. “This is a scarlet letter on Belgian society.”

Responding to Sa’ar’s post, White warned, “Belgium will be thought of now as antisemitic by the world. Until this is resolved — there is no way around it.”

Belgium has grown increasingly hostile to the United States and Israel. The country joined the International Court of Justice case against Israel brought by South Africa, and a leading politician posted a video comparing President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.

The investigation into the mohels began last year when anti-Israel activist Moshe Aryeh Friedman, who has pushed for limits on Jewish traditions like gender separation at Haredi schools, filed a complaint against the three men.

Belgium joined the Greeks and the Nazis, as well as several European nations, in banning shechitah. But it’s the first European country to ban bris milah.

Are the Nuremberg Laws coming to town?