World Jewish News

Sebastian Kurz considered a 'good friend of Israel and the Jewish people'

‘’Sebastian Kurz is one of the most articulate, dynamic and forward-looking diplomats in Europe today, and he is a good friend of Israel and the Jewish people.’’

This comment was made last June by David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) as Kurz was invited to the AJC Global Forum, the organization’s top annual event.

Kurz is leader of the Conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP) which won Sunday’s parliament elections.

His party finished first with 30.5 percent and the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), headed by Heinz-Christian Strache, placed second with 26.8 percent, with the Social Democrats (SPÖ) of outgoing chancellor Christian Kern just behind them on 26.2 percent.

The result would clear the way for a right-leaning coalition and vault 31-year-old Kurz into the office of Chancellor which would make him Europe’s youngest head of government.

As Foreign Minister, Sebastian Kurz visited Israel in May 2006 to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between Austria and Israel. During his visit, he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. An agreement on the “Working Holiday Programme” between Austria and Israel as well as an agreement on enhanced cultural cooperation were signed. The “Working Holiday Programme“ enables young people to spend up to six months working in another country during their holidays.

Kurz also participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the grave of Theodor Herzl, who is considered the intellectual pioneer of the state of Israel. As an expression of Austria’s special historical responsibility, Kurz and his delegation visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial, where he met Austrian Holocaust survivors.

In 2016, the Austrian Austria decided to adopt the definition of anti-Semitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Kurz said the move sent an important signal and was crucial “in order to identify and combat antisemitism more easily with a universally valid definition.”

Austria followed the UK and Israel in adopting the definition.

Jewish groups congratulated Kurz for Sunday’s election victory but at the same time voiced serious concerns about the strong showing of the far-right Freedom Party.

World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder, who was the U.S. ambassador to Austria from 1986 to 1987, declared: “It is sad and distressing that such a platform should receive more than a quarter of the vote and become the country’s second party. It is still full of xenophobes and racists and is, mildly put, very ambiguous toward Austria’s Nazi past. My only hope is that they won’t end up in government.”

Lauder added: “What happened today is in many respects worse than Kurt Waldheim’s election as president of Austria 30 years ago. Today’s FPÖ is far beyond acceptable democratic limits.”

The WJC president congratulated Sebastian Kurz on placing first in the polls. “We have known Mr. Kurz for a long time. He is extremely capable, and I am sure he will be able to form the government and to become an outward-looking leader of this wonderful country,” Lauder said.

However, Lauder strongly warned against including the Freedom Party in any governing coalition. “Like the AfD in Germany, the National Front in France, or Jobbik in Hungary, the FPÖ is an extremist party that panders to racists and anti-Semites and whips up feelings against minorities,” Lauder said. “It is led by a man who in his youth expressed clear sympathies for the Nazis. In its present state, the FPÖ is not, and should not be, a party of government.”

Lauder also expressed the hope that the current coalition of ÖVP and SPÖ could be continued and thanked outgoing Chancellor and SPÖ leader Christian Kern.

“Mr. Kern is a reliable partner. He has shown time and again that he is a friend of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel. He took over the chancellorship in difficult times and he served his country with distinction. I very much hope he will remain in the front line of Austrian politics.”

Around 13,000 Jews live in Austria today.

EJP