2023-10-07 13:57:00
After Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (both ÖVP) condemned the attacks on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli flag will also be hoisted at the Federal Chancellery and Foreign Office until Sunday evening. Nehammer announced this on Saturday on the online platform X, formerly Twitter.
Video: Rocket attack on Israel
“As a sign of solidarity with #Israel and the Israeli population, the Israeli flag will be hoisted on the roofs of the Federal Chancellery and the Foreign Ministry until tomorrow evening,” the Chancellor posted.
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During an earlier escalation in the Middle East conflict, the Israeli flag was hoisted on the Chancellery and the Foreign Ministry in May 2021 under the then Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP). Kurz and Schallenberg also attracted criticism, including from the Green coalition partner.
“It was a very conscious sign of solidarity in view of the over 3,000 rockets that were indiscriminately released into Israeli territory by a terrorist organization, namely Hamas,” said Schallenberg, defending the decision at the time. However, it is “not a sign of de-solidarization with Palestine,” and it does not change Austria’s fundamental stance on the Middle East conflict: “We want a negotiated two-state solution” and a situation “where Palestinians and Israelis are at peace can live,” said the Foreign Minister.
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The Greens and FPÖ called for maintaining neutrality. For former Federal President Heinz Fischer, it was “painful that neutral Austria is now demonstrating one-sidedness in this tragic conflict.” Kurz and Schallenberg argued that there is no neutrality in the fight once morest the terrorist organization Hamas.
From the Palestinians’ perspective, there was a realignment in Austria’s Middle East policy under Kurz, for example in relevant votes in international committees. The “balanced” Middle East policy in the tradition of ex-Chancellor Bruno Kreisky has been abandoned and a “turnaround” has been undertaken towards a “clearly pro-Israel policy,” said the Palestinian ambassador in Vienna, Salah Abdel Shafi, earlier this year 2018.
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