The presence of the Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever at a performance conducted by Israeli maestro Lahav Shani was met with mixed reactions.
The PM attended the performance of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra on Saturday in Essen.
The conductor of the orchestra was recently at the centre of controversy in Belgium. While the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra was originally scheduled to also perform in Ghent on 18 September as part of the Flanders Festival, the organisers cancelled the event, citing "insufficient clarity about the conductor's position towards the genocidal regime" as the reason for the cancellation.
De Wever condemned this decision and chose to travel to Essen to show his support. He posted a photograph of the concert on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
"Immediately after the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas, I expressed my fear that the Israeli government would allow itself to be drawn into an endless violent conflict in Gaza. Unfortunately, that fear came true, with all the terrible consequences that entailed," he wrote in the post.
De Wever added: "However, let me be very clear: There will never be room for racism or antisemitism in this country, under any circumstances."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly thanked De Wever via X on Sunday. "I would like to thank the Belgian Prime Minister for the strong show of solidarity he demonstrated by visiting Lahav Shani and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in Essen," he wrote. "We must not allow this blatant anti-Semitism to take place."
Ich danke dem belgischen Premierminister für sein starkes Zeichen der Solidarität, das er mit dem Besuch bei Lahav Shani und den Münchner Philharmonikern in Essen gesetzt hat.
Lieber @Bart_DeWever, wir dürfen diesem blanken Antisemitismus keinen Platz geben. — Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (@bundeskanzler) September 14, 2025
Translation: I would like to thank the Belgian Prime Minister for the strong show of solidarity he demonstrated by visiting Lahav Shani and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in Essen. Dear @Bart_DeWever, we must not allow this blatant anti-Semitism to take hold.
The incident has divided Belgium's government. While Flemish minister president Matthias Diependaele (N-VA) agreed in principle with De Wever's view, Flemish Culture minister Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) expressed support for the decision of the Flanders Festival.
Vooruit party leader Conner Rousseau told Belgian media: "Can the prime minister stop fuelling this himself? The focus must now be on the national budget and how to get it back on track fairly and socially. That is what people expect of him."
He added that De Wever should dismiss the N-VA representatives on the festival's board of directors who co-approved and co-decided the cancellation.
Meanwhile, Christoph D'Haese, the N-VA MP and mayor of Aalst, threatened to resign from the festival's board unless it reversed the decision to cancel Shani's concert, which he called "wrong".
The far-right Vlaams Belang party has called for an emergency meeting of the Flemish Parliament's Culture Committee, accusing the festival of "the purest form of government censorship on the basis of origin".
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The article was updated at 12:43 to clarify the position of Flemish Culture minister Caroline Gennez and Flemish minister president Matthias Diependaele.
