The United States is invoking diplomatic immunity in the lawsuit of the controversial Antwerp "rabbi" Moshe Friedman against Bill White, the US ambassador to Belgium.
Belgium's Foreign Affairs Ministry has received a formal diplomatic note that the US is invoking diplomatic immunity in the lawsuit of Friedman against White, a source close to the case told The Brussels Times.
The case, brought by Friedman against White, was set to start on 20 October before the 26th chamber of the Brussels Criminal Court.
Despite White's claim that he would be willing to contest Friedman’s accusations of threats, extortion, defamation and harassment in court, he said at the end of August that the US State Department would "rightly invoke diplomatic immunity".
With the diplomatic note, this has now officially happened. The note has been transferred to Belgium's Ministry of Justice. As a result of that, the case will almost certainly be dismissed, The Brussels Times has learned.
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Friedman is an Antwerp-based activist and calls himself a rabbi, although the latter title is disputed and several Jewish organisations have distanced themselves from him. Friedman is said not to have completed the prescribed training.
Last July, Ambassador White made scathing remarks about Friedman in the weekly magazine Humo, after the latter had lodged a complaint against US President Donald Trump.
To mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, the Antwerp diamond industry had presented Trump with a ring set with 321 diamonds and 75 other precious stones.
According to Friedman, however, this gift was intended to persuade the president to exert pressure on the Belgian investigation into ritual circumcisions. White is also said to have made disparaging remarks about the man on Instagram.
Friedman accused White of being directly involved in this alleged attempt at bribery. Therefore, he said, White's statements, as well as the threats he allegedly made, must be regarded as "a blatant attempt to prevent further revelations that are dangerous for both the president and the ambassador himself".
Friedman previously said that he wished to have White's immunity lifted, at least in part.
