BRUSSELS (EJP)--US Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman expressed regrets Sunday that his words at a conference on the fight against anti-Semitism in Europe "have been misinterpreted."

"I strongly condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms and deeply regret that my words were misinterpreted," Gutman said, according to the US Embassy.

"My personal history and the history of my family testify to the importance I attach to this subject and my unwavering commitment to fight anti-Semitism," Gutman, who is the son of a Polish Jew who survived the Holocaust.

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In his address to the conference organized earlier this week by the European Jewish Union (EJU) in Brussels, the ambassador made a distinction between "traditional" anti-Semitism and anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish violence which stems from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  

In his view, a lasting peace in the Middle East "would lead to a huge reduction of this form of labeled anti-Semitism in Europe."