Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has sparked a diplomatic crisis with Israel at the UN in late September when he accused the Jewish state of “war crimes” with respect to the construction of residences in the West Bank.
Van der Bellen’s attack on Jerusalem came amid Austria’s decision to participate in a meeting on September 28 to mark the 25th anniversary of the UN Durban conference, which critics have long asserted espoused antisemitic rhetoric.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar fired back at Van der Bellen on X, writing “Austria’s President @vanderbellen should be ashamed! Someone who represents a country whose past is bound up with the gravest crimes against humanity and the Jewish people dares to level a false accusation against the Jewish state, which is still fighting a jihadist axis that relentlessly tries to eliminate it.” He added “ Of course, no Austrian citizen should be held responsible for the vile nonsense uttered by their President.”
Stephan Götz-Bruha, a spokesman for the President, told the Jewish Chronicle (JC) that “Federal President Van der Bellen is a friend of Israel, as he has demonstrated through numerous statements. He has condemned in the strongest terms – on many occasions – Hamas’s brutal attack on peaceful Israeli citizens, and he will continue to do so. He has also consistently emphasised Austria’s historical responsibility.”
He continued that “At the same time, he is observing the events in Gaza and the West Bank with great concern. He therefore decided to address this issue during the press conference held immediately after the opening of the UN General Assembly. In doing so, he explicitly affirmed Israel’s right to exist. Other heads of state – such as President Macron and King Abdullah of Jordan – have also expressed similar views during the General Assembly.”
The Austrian Foreign Ministry told the JC that “Austria stands as a close partner on Israel’s side. For Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, this solidarity with Israel does not preclude the demand that international law be observed. Establishing violations of the law is the task of the courts.”
The Austrian paper KURIER reported that the Chancellor’s office said that the wording had not been coordinated with Van der Bellen. The Chancellery said “Because of its history, Austria has a special responsibility toward the State of Israel. Israel’s right to exist is beyond question. Equally beyond question for us is the binding nature of international law. Determining whether a violation of the law has occurred is the task of the courts.”
While the Austrian President’s role is largely ceremonial, the President’s rhetoric and actions still carry weight, according to commentators and the Jewish community. The former Green Party politician triggered outrage when he congratulated Iran's sanctioned president-elect Ebrahim Raisi in 2021. Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in 2024, was previously sanctioned by the US for his role in the mass murder of Iranian dissidents in prison and protesters. Raisi played a key role in the executions of at least 5,000 innocent political prisoners in 1988. He was part of a four-man "Death Committee" that sent dissidents to their slaughter without an iota of due process.
Oskar Deutsch, president of the Jewish Community of Austria, wrote on X that “ Van der Bellen is a friend of Israel and sincerely connected to the Jewish community. That makes what he said yesterday in New York all the heavier: he spoke of war crimes and assigned responsibility to one side – Israel. That is taking sides.”
Deutsch added that “He found not a word about the existential threat from Palestinian terrorist organisations as well as the Iranian regime and its proxies. He did not speak of the attacks on Israelis or of the stated goal of wiping out the Jews.
Diplomacy means seeing a conflict in its entirety. When a head of state presents one-sided accusations as facts, he legitimises those who already ‘knew’ who is to blame.”
Deutsch said “Since 7 October 2023, we have been experiencing a tsunami of antisemitic incidents. Of the 1,532 incidents documented by @AMeldestellein 2025, more than three quarters were related to Israel. It has now become the most common form of antisemitism in Austria.”
The editor-in-chief of the prominent Austrian investigative magazine profil, Anna Thalhammer, also took Van der Bellen to task: “When the Federal President speaks of war crimes on the largest international stage, he is doing more than setting an accent. He is shifting a boundary whose consequences will be felt not only in foreign policy, but also for Jewish life in this country. His words make more difficult what we have, over 80 years, painstakingly built in community, trust, and protection for a minority – something that is still fragile. Van der Bellen knows that his words carry weight. He should choose them more carefully.”
The second UN-related anti-Israel controversy involves the infamous 2001 Durban anti-racism conference.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, sent a letter to Austria’s conservative Chancellor Christian Stocker, urging him to walk away from the event. Cooper, who attended the first Durban anti-racist conference in 2001, wrote that he “witnessed firsthand how a gathering convened under the noble banner of combating racism was overwhelmed by virulently anti-Israel hostility and manifestations of antisemitism.”
He added that “It became a watershed moment in the international demonisation of Israel and helped bring rhetoric once confined to political extremes into mainstream international discourse.”
The Austrian Foreign Ministry told the JC that “Austria’s position on the Durban process remains unchanged. This year as well, Austria will again refrain from sending high-ranking or political representatives to the meeting of the Durban Declaration.”
The JC reached out to Austrian Jewish former MP Martin Engelberg, who referenced his statements on social media. He said on X that “After this UN week in New York, I draw a bitter conclusion. The accusation of war crimes against Israel. The handshake with Zohran Mamdani. And a Foreign Minister whose defence of the Federal President I find completely off the mark. For me, this is more than a slip-up. I see a change in Austrian foreign policy that I would not have wished for.”
Van der Bellen also came under fire meeting with the anti-Israel mayor of New York City Mamdani.
Another controversy took place last week in Vienna when the Austrian Journalists’ Club pulled the plug on an event with Austrian journalist Danielle Spera, former director of the Jewish Museum Vienna, because the “safety of Ms. Spera could not be guaranteed,” according to the Kronen paper.
Spera is the wife of Engelberg and her event was slated to cover the subject of Jewish women and Jewish life in Vienna
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