Nehammer will travel to Israel on Wednesday morning aboard a Czech government plane. The Chancellor said he was “very grateful” to his counterpart Fiala for this opportunity. “We are beneficiaries of Czech infrastructure”, said the Chancellor at a press conference on the occasion of Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolaj Denkow’s visit to Vienna. The joint trip with Fiala also facilitates organization on the Israeli side and “allows us to organize the visit efficiently,” explained Nehammer.
According to the Federal Chancellery, the visit is a “sign of solidarity with the Israeli people”. As part of the day-long visit, the Chancellor meets with the President of Israel, Yitzhak (Isaac) Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the family of an Austrian-Israeli hostage who was kidnapped by the terrorist organization Hamas.
Nehammer met with Israel’s ambassador-designate, David Roet, at the Federal Chancellery on Tuesday to talk to him about the current situation. “We are firmly on Israel’s side and the Israeli population can trust Austria,” said the Chancellor. “There is no justification for Hamas’ brutal and barbaric terrorist attack on Israel, and we express this clear condemnation through our visit tomorrow.”
The joint visit by the heads of government of Austria and the Czech Republic takes place just before the EU summit, where developments in the Middle East will be discussed. “Hamas’ terror must end and this requires all forces to join forces to prevent a possible conflagration,” Nehammer said. “We will all do our part to achieve this.”
Hamas carried out a major attack on Israel on October 7, killing around 1,400 people. Four dual Austrian-Israeli citizens were also killed and another is still missing. During the attack, the Islamists also took more than 220 people hostage in the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel has carried out airstrikes against the terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, almost 5,800 people were killed. However, these numbers cannot be independently verified.
Austria and the Czech Republic are among the EU countries that fundamentally view the Israeli army’s current counterattack as self-defense. On the other hand, there are countries such as Spain, Ireland and Belgium that criticize Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip and call for a humanitarian ceasefire taking into account the many civilian victims. Austria declared that Israel’s security under former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) was part of Austria’s reasons of state.
Fiala also wants to take advantage of the visit to express his support for Israel in a meeting with Herzog and Netanyahu. One of the objectives of the talks will also be coordination at the EU summit in Brussels that begins Thursday, government spokesman Václav Smolka told the Czech news agency ČTK.
Numerous international politicians have visited Israel since October 7 and expressed their solidarity. Among them are US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French Head of State Emmanuel Macron.