Belgium's prime minister traveled to neighboring Germany for a concert led by an Israeli conductor whose appearance was canceled by a Belgian festival, a gesture that added to strong criticism of the decision.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz thanked Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever in a social media post Sunday for "his strong signal of solidarity” after he attended the concert given in Essen Saturday evening by the Munich Philharmonic and conducted by Lahav Shani, who is due to become the orchestra's chief conductor next year. Shani is also the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and currently the chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
