The European Jewish Association (EJA) congratulated Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz on the establishment of the new Austrian government. In a statement, EJA Founder and Director Rabbi Menachem

Margolin said: “We remember Mr. Kurz as a foreign minister sensitive to the values of democracy and a friend of the Jewish people.

“In recent years, European Jewry has faced a wave of opposition to Jewish religious practices on the continent, as well as a worrying rise in the level of anti-Semitism and the popularity of extremist parties, both right and left. Jewish Ethics denote that a people are never rejected personally, but their behavior and actions are.

“For this reason, and in light of the statements made by the new government who all its members are united in condemning any expression of anti-Semitism, we congratulate the Austrian Chancellor on his unprecedented achievement and his success in founding a stable government.

“Austria as an EU member however poses a challenge. We cannot ignore the fear that in other countries extreme parties will join the government based on the Austrian model without the unambiguous rejection of anti-Semitism that Austria has provided.

“The European Jewish Association is asking the new government to join the United States, to European Union and other countries and to appoint a special government representative to initiate coordinate government action to eradicate anti-Semitism and Xenophobia in Austria in the spirit of the anti-Semitic definitions adopted in the European Parliament in June 2017 and to clarify that freedom of religion in Austria will remain unchanged”.

Photo: Menachem Margolin with PM of Estonia H.E. Juri Ratas

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)