Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Austria
Austria: its Jewish community, relations with "Israel" and arms purchases
About 10,300 Jews lived in Austria in 2020, according to an estimate by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research cited by the World Jewish Congress (WJC).[1] "Israel" recalled its ambassador in 2000, when the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) joined the government; full relations were restored in 2003.[1]
Jewish community
The Jewish Communities of Austria (Israelitische Religionsgesellschaft Österreich) is the WJC's affiliate; the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde in Vienna has nearly 8,000 members. The WJC notes that there is a local Zionist Federation, and that the Lauder Foundation runs schools on the Lauder Chabad campus.[1]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
The WJC notes the Lauder Chabad campus in Vienna.[1]
Holocaust
According to the WJC, citing the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, 65,500 Austrian Jews were murdered.[1]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with Austria as recognition in January 1949, with "Israel" represented by its embassy in Vienna.[2] The WJC says that Austria formally recognised "Israel" in March 1949. During the presidency of Kurt Waldheim, whose Nazi past the WJC exposed in 1986, "Israel" was represented only by a chargé d'affaires. The Israeli embassy is at Anton-Frank-Gasse 20, 1180 Vienna.[1]
Arms trade
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records Austrian orders in 2024 for 200 UT-30 turrets and 16 Crossbow-120 mortar turrets for Pandur vehicles produced in Austria, and Litening-5 pods for Typhoon aircraft.[3]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $709.8 million from Austria in 2025 (2024: $612.2 million) and exported goods worth $143.7 million to it (2024: $74.3 million).[4]
Political interference
UN voting
Austria voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[5]
Ehud Barak emails
The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by Handala, a group that Distributed Denial of Secrets describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.[6]
- In April and May 2016 Gabriel Lansky of the Austrian law firm LGP sent members of a body called the "IIAC" requests "received ... today from the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan" for their help in promoting the Astana International Financial Center and with trade and investment policy, and proposed topics for an upcoming IIAC meeting. Barak forwarded one request to a contact addressed as "Bolat"; Alfred Gusenbauer replied to the agenda that "absolute priority" was a planned meeting with President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and an LGP staff member arranged Barak's travel to an IIAC meeting in Bologna with the assistance of Romano Prodi's office.[7]
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Czechia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Hungary
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Poland
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Portugal
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Slovakia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Spain
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Switzerland
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 World Jewish Congress, Community in Austria worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011.
- ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy).
- ↑ United Nations General Assembly, Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by Al-Quds Al-Arabi).
- ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Ehud Barak emails, 27 August 2025, with download at data.ddosecrets.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Emails from Gabriel Lansky and LGP to IIAC members, "IIAC: Request for assistance re Astana International Financial Center and Trade and investment policy" (1 and 15 April 2016), "IIAC-Meeting in Bologna in April 30" (7 April 2016) and "Re: IIAC: proposal of topics for discussion" (5 May 2016), file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!1/0000000944-Re_ Fwd_ IIAC_ Request for assistance re Astana International Financial Center and Trade and investment policy.html; ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!1/0000001119-Fwd_ IIAC-Meeting in Bologna in April 30.html; ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox/0000000427-Re_ IIAC_ proposal of topics for discussion.html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026.