Austria-Israel alliance and Sebastian Kurz: How he helped both nations find common ground

Paula Feuerl-Pnina Deutsch (Weinfeld after marriage) was born in Vienna in January 1937 to a Jewish family living in the town of Frauenkirchen in the Austrian province of Burgenland, near the Hungarian border.

Frauenkirchen was one of the “Seven Communities,” Orthodox Jewish communities that had settled in Burgenland since the 17th century. On March 27, 1938, just two weeks after Nazi Germany entered Austria, Paula’s parents received a Gestapo order to leave Reich territory within three days.

Along with about 100 other Jews from the town, Paula’s family managed to obtain immigration visas for Eretz Yisrael (Mandatory Palestine). The family settled in the “Hungarian Houses” (Ungarin Houses) in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Paula Feuerl-Pnina had 12 sons and daughters in Israel. Two of them heard about the Kurz government’s decision to expand eligibility conditions for obtaining Austrian citizenship for descendants of Nazi victims. They approached the Austrian embassy in Tel Aviv to inquire whether the changes in the citizenship law applied to Paula-Pnina Deutsch’s family. The consular department officials responded affirmatively and kindly assisted the descendants of the former Austrian Jew in reclaiming their Austrian citizenship. Forty members of the family became Austrian citizens.

The citizenship certificates for all of them were collected by Paula Feuerl-Pnina’s grandson, Mendy Weinfeld, who was born in 1997 in Jerusalem. Mendy officially became an Austrian citizen while already serving as one of Chabad’s emissaries in Vienna. He arrived in the Austrian capital to establish a community center for Israelis who had moved there temporarily or permanently.

We met at the center, a building in Vienna’s ninth district, which was provided for the project by the local Chabad community. “Family history has always interested me,” he says. “My family was very excited when they heard about my mission to Vienna. It’s a kind of return to our roots, which brought up many memories of things we grew up with. Once you receive citizenship from a country, you feel a sense of belonging to it. I still don’t know the history of Austrian Jewry in-depth, and I don’t yet speak German.

Today, it’s quite easy to live a Jewish life here, thanks in part to the work of Rabbi Jacob Biderman, the chief rabbi of Chabad in Austria, who, in the past 40 years, has established a series of Jewish educational institutions and synagogues.

Today, there are at least 22 active synagogues in Vienna, Jewish kindergartens, schools, a university, community centers, restaurants, supermarkets, cafes, and bakeries. It’s a fairly large Jewish infrastructure. While I’ve been here, I haven’t experienced anti-Semitism from Austrians. However, I have experienced verbal antisemitic attacks from Arabs.”

Austrian Jews

In Austria, about 8,500 people are currently members of Jewish communities. To this, another approximately 15,000 Jews should be added who are not community members. “The ‘Heritage Law’ has brought financial security to community life,” says Oskar Deutsch, president of the Jewish community in Austria.

“It provides an opportunity to strengthen Jewish life and show it publicly. The most effective way to combat anti-Semitism is to live [a] Jewish life and display it publicly. Many non-Jews don’t understand Judaism and associate it only with the Holocaust or with my attacks on the ‘Freedom Party.’ We need to show others what Judaism is.

Before World War II, Jews left a very significant mark on Vienna. There were Jewish writers, artists, and composers. In my first press conference as president of the community, I said that we need to show Austrian society what Judaism is and say that we are part of Austria and contribute to it. Today, there are more Jewish artists in Austria, which makes me happy. We haven’t yet produced outstanding footballers, but that will come.

On the other hand, there is now a Jewish-American mogul skier who received Austrian citizenship a year ago because her grandmother was Austrian, and she has already won two bronze medals for Austria in the world championship. Today, due to the amendment to the citizenship law, Austrian citizenship has been restored to about 26,000 Jews worldwide. This was one of many things Kurz initiated and implemented.

The goal of the amendment wasn’t to cause Jews to move to Austria but rather to restore justice to some extent, to correct an injustice, and to make a gesture toward those who were denied the opportunity to be Austrians, and it was very successful. Beyond that, Kurz was the first chancellor to define Israel’s existence as part of Austria’s top national interest, which changed Austria’s voting patterns in the UN and the EU on issues concerning Israel.

This approach is still maintained. I don’t know if it will change in the future. In Austria, anything is possible. However, the support that Israel receives from Austria is extremely important. Kurz’s tenure, despite the ambivalence created by the formation of the coalition with the ‘Freedom Party,’ was for me one of the high points of my presidency, and I wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“In all my decades in politics, I’ve never experienced such a positive situation as in recent years,” admits Ariel Muzicant, former president of the Austrian Jewish community and currently president of the European Jewish Congress.

“We, the Jews of Austria, live in a relative paradise. As someone connected to the Social Democrats, I can say that in the last decade, there has been a real desire among senior members of the ‘People’s Party’ to improve the emotional connection with Jews, not just the legal connection. Let’s not forget that in 2018, Austria was the country that adopted the decision to combat anti-Semitism within the European Union Council of Heads of State. No other country had done this before. This was Sebastian Kurz’s work.

From the beginning of his government, Kurz and his people were friends, and not for political considerations. I was one of the negotiators on the wording of this European decision. The entire EU strategy to combat anti-Semitism started there. The adoption of the decision wouldn’t have been possible if there hadn’t been such significant involvement from the chancellor’s office and the Austrian foreign ministry, who intervened with EU member states to secure their support. It was unbelievable.

Raising the Israeli flag on the chancellor’s office was a gesture of true friendship and genuine empathy for the people sitting in bunkers and security rooms in Israel while rockets were fired at them. It’s a gesture from someone who understands us. I can’t imagine that this quality of relationship will last forever; it depends on who comes next.”

“The process of rapprochement with Israel, undertaken by Kurz, was realized in four areas, which deepened over time,” says a senior official in the Austrian government.

“These include the relationship with the past, the fight against antisemitism, the transition from past to present—support for the Jewish community in Austria and recognition of Israel’s security as a top national interest—and a shift in international stance. I hope this has created a different approach toward Israel in Austria.

During the last general elections in 2019, a debate was held within the Jewish community in Vienna with representatives of all parties, except for the ‘Freedom Party,’ which is boycotted by the community. The discussion focused on issues concerning the Jewish community. The positions expressed by the parties were very similar. All felt the need to emphasize their commitment to Israel, though perhaps the ‘Greens’ were slightly more critical. The fact that the ‘People’s Party’ made relations with Israel a central issue influenced other parties.

This was not the traditional stance of the conservative party. Kurz sought and found a normal way to deal with the past and work with Israel. The image of the ‘Startup Nation’ helped him move in this direction. However, not all parties changed their views 180 degrees.”

“We can see the deepening of relations between the two countries through the frequent visits of senior Austrian officials and ministers to Israel,” says a senior official in Austria’s Foreign Ministry familiar with Austria-Israel relations.

“The strategic partnership agreement between the two countries aims to raise the level of relations in certain areas: economy, innovation, and medical technology. Israel has much to offer in these fields. Meanwhile, Austria is committed to strengthening ties between the populations of the two countries through exchanges of youth delegations and expanding the alternative civil service program, which allows young people not serving in the military to work at ‘Yad Vashem,’ the ‘Ghetto Fighters’ Museum,’ kibbutzim, and the Austrian hospice in Jerusalem. The intention is also to develop tourism between the two countries in a balanced way. 2019 was a record year for Israeli tourists visiting Austria.

Conversely, until the outbreak of COVID-19, Israel had become a tourism destination for Austrians. The positive atmosphere in bilateral relations and the good political connection influenced the Austrians’ decision to travel to Israel. The fact that politicians regularly visit Israel, and it is reported in the news, has led people to see Israel as a place where one can travel and enjoy, not just a place associated with wars and terrorism.

A more positive image of what Israel has to offer has emerged. For its part, Austria has much to offer on the European level. Israel is a member of the EU’s ‘Horizon’ innovation program, so both countries have access to financial resources for cooperation in this area.

In 2018, at Kurz’s initiative, a memorandum of understanding was signed to establish a fund for joint projects with Israel for three years, a period that has since been extended. The ‘Abraham Accords’ made us think differently.

When Arab countries moved towards normalization and cooperation with Israel, including military cooperation, it led us to reconsider our stance and start to change our position. Before the ‘Abraham Accords,’ criticism of Kurz’s rapprochement with Israel was based on the claim that a positive approach toward Israel would lead to the collapse of relations, especially economic ones, with Arab states. This did not happen. Quite the opposite.

Logically, Israel is our partner in the Middle East. In a world where the balance of power is shifting, and the model of democracy and freedom is threatened by authoritarian leaders, Israel is the country with which we need to maintain ties and work together.”

“In the European Union and international organizations, we have begun to scrutinize our actions more carefully on issues related to Israel and the unjustified criticism of Israel in the EU and UN,” continues the senior official.

“We oppose anti-Israel resolutions. This change has been recognized by Israel and has greatly improved relations between the two countries. We are maintaining this stance and are considered by the European Union as a country Israel trusts. Is it easy to adhere to this position? It depends on the issue and context. Sometimes it is harder, sometimes less so. My sense is that the group of countries questioning the traditional European stance on Israel is growing and adopting more balanced positions. We see countries changing their stance. During the Kreisky era, Austria had a pro-Palestinian policy, and this has changed.

Today, we have a very different dialogue with Israel. This was a conscious decision, and it came at a certain cost that Austria had to pay. We continue to support the two-state solution and believe that settlements are an obstacle to peace.

But the question is, how do we talk to Israel about this? We agree to disagree on certain issues. We know that if we approach the Israelis with a pointed finger, their ears will close. This approach has changed the nature of the dialogue. Other European countries have seen this and are following our lead.”

“My impression,” says former Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yuval Rotem, “was that Kurz understood well that he was making historically significant moves, he wanted them to happen, and he was very proud to lead them. He had a few good people around him who accompanied and helped him. He felt a sense of mission.

This was a moment where several people, both on his side and ours, understood that there was an opportunity to elevate relations between the two countries and take advantage of the good relations between Kurz and Netanyahu, as quickly as possible, to solidify the advancement in relations, also within the European Union and international organizations.

The bilateral component influenced the multilateral level. This doesn’t always happen in foreign relations, but it did with Kurz. There were people who saw the diplomatic opportunity and gave the two key players the most significant backing to advance relations between the two countries as much as possible.

We are talking about 2016-2019, the period when Netanyahu adopted a different foreign policy. We called it geometric diplomacy, where we created various combinations of relations with countries around the world and in Europe, based on the fact that opinions within the European Union towards Israel were no longer uniform.”

“The shift in relations can also be felt in Jewish life in Vienna today,” concludes former Vice Chancellor Josef Pröll.

“We are sitting in the second district of Vienna, which historically was a neighborhood heavily influenced by the Jewish presence. Today, there is once again a very strong Jewish presence in its streets, including an Orthodox one. Jews feel more self-confident. There is a vibrancy in Jewish life. And that’s a good thing. Given all the events surrounding Gaza, it’s understandable why, for such a long time, Jewish life was invisible. But it’s not acceptable for Jews to feel fear again. The Austrian government has a clear position on where the lines are for prohibiting harm to Jews.”