Over 150 Jewish community leaders, diplomats, and parliamentarians gathered in Brussels this week for the European Jewish Association’s annual conference. The two-day summit was held under the theme “Global Intifada: Jewish Communities on the Front Line.”

The conference was spearheaded by Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the EJA. Joining the conference as well was Chabad Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, who serves as the United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.

In his keynote address, Rabbi Margolin warned about the growing antisemitism facing European Jewry and presented a major proposal aimed at changing that reality.

“Let me be honest,” he said. “I have opened too many conferences with the same words: Antisemitism is rising, Jews are feeling unsafe, and more needs to be done.”

He said the old pattern of declarations, strategies, and working groups is no longer enough while attacks continue to rise and Jewish life across Europe faces growing pressure.

At the center of the conference was a call for a new legal framework for European Jewry. Rabbi Margolin presented a proposal for a “Special Protected Minority Status for all the Jews of Europe,” aimed at creating protections that would not rise or fall with elections, party politics, or changing governments.

“The goal is to create a new reality for Europe’s Jews,” he said. “A reality that does not depend on whichever government happens to be in power. A reality that does not depend on the mood of this or that political party. A reality that is protected from outside pressure and from changing political trends.”

He added that Jewish life must be secured “in law, in policy, and in practice,” saying, “We want a future that is in our hands, not in someone else’s. And we want that future to be non-negotiable.”

The proposal goes beyond general anti-discrimination protections and calls for specific legal safeguards for Jewish continuity, identity, and communal life. The framework being advanced by the EJA would press European states to recognize Jews not only as a religious group, but also as a linguistic and ethnic or racial minority, and to build practical protections around security, education, public life, and religious practice, including matters such as Bris Milah and Shechita.

In Belgium, that issue has become especially pressing in recent weeks, following the attempted firebombing of a Jewish institution in Belgium and the police raids in Antwerp that led to the seizure of confidential bris records. Bill White, who recently delivered a scorching public rebuke of Belgium over what he called the “ongoing legal harassment” of three veteran mohalim in Antwerp, attended the conference and was presented with the EJA’s King David Award in recognition of his support for Jewish communities and his fight against antisemitism.

Rabbi Kaploun addressed the recent security situation in Belgium and described the results of talks with Belgian officials.

“The Belgian government agreed to place military people throughout the Jewish areas,” he said. “Two days after the military was deployed, members of the military assisted in capturing three people who tried to firebomb a Jewish institution.”

He thanked the Belgian prime minister, defense minister, and foreign minister for listening to the concerns of Jewish communities and for taking steps to strengthen protection on the ground.

The conference also featured messages from senior European officials. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said that “there is no place for antisemitism in Europe,” calling it “a poison” that must be eradicated. European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi went further, warning, “If Jewish people do not feel safe in Europe, then Europe is not what it claims to be,” and adding, “Jewish life belongs in Europe. Jewish tradition belongs in Europe. Jewish people must always have a home in Europe.”

Shannon Seban said one of the growing dangers facing Jewish communities is the way antisemitism is now often repackaged as anti-Zionism. “We need European cities and organizations to recognise that antizionism IS antisemitism,” she said, adding that the point has become even more urgent since October 7.

The conference ended with participants voting to give the EJA a mandate to advance a new binding legal framework for European Jewry with national governments and European institutions.