04 September 2007
Austria’s Chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer, began a two-day visit to Israel on Monday, pledging "a new chapter" in his country's emotional and often strained relationship with the Jewish state. Gusenbauer's visit is the first to Israel by an Austrian head of government in almost 10 years and only the third since the country was founded in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust. Ties have often been strained because of Austria's alliance with Germany during World War II. At a meeting with the Isrtaeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, Gusenbauer said "It's true that the relationship between Austria and Israel not always has been an easy one, but I think we are embarking on a new initiative. We are opening up a new chapter in our relationship, a chapter of friendship and cooperation".
Many Austrians enthusiastically supported the Austrian-born Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and about 70,000 Austrian Jews were killed in the Holocaust. For years Austria rejected responsibility for the persecution of Jews on its territory, arguing that it became the first victim of German aggression when Hitler annexed Austria in 1938.
