Martin Weiss has served as Austria's ambassador to Israel for exactly four years. His name might sound Jewish and his lively, relaxed nature is a good fit for the Israeli pace of life, but in two weeks, Weiss will depart the Austrian Embassy in Tel Aviv for the Austrian Embassy in Washington, DC. That demonstrates his status, but also the importance of Israel in Austrian diplomacy.
Indeed, in Weiss' time as ambassador – and with his help – Israel and Austria have enjoyed their closest ties in history. Given the loaded history between the Jewish and Austrian peoples, ("Let's admit it, there were mostly 'downs,'" he says with characteristic frankness) – the increasing closeness of the last few years is not something to be taken for granted.
Austria is not only the birthplace of Adolf Hitler but also elected a Jewish chancellor who hated Israel, Bruno Kreisky; knowingly elected as president former Wehrmacht officer Kurt Waldheim; saw huge support for long-time Freedom Party of Austria Chairman Jörg Haider, widely considered to have been a Nazi sympathizer; and was one of the last countries to acknowledge the part it played in the mass murder of its Jewish citizens during the Holocaust.
Only in the past few years have we seen signs that the Austrian leadership is truly able to address the country's past honestly and seriously. In a speech two years ago at a conference of the American Jewish Committee in Jerusalem, former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said things that had never been uttered by his predecessors: "Many Austrians supported the system which killed over 6 million Jews from all over Europe and beyond. Among them, 60,000 fellow Austrian Jewish citizens in Austria alone. It took Austria a long time to be honest about its past. I have to admit that there were many people in Austria who did nothing to fight the Nazi regime. Far too many actively supported these horrors and even were perpetrators."
Kurz strengthened Austria's ties with Israel in general and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular. This was due in part to Weiss, who is a close associate. Now that Weiss' time as ambassador to Israel is up, he sat down with Israel Hayom for a special interview.
Q: Has your worldview changed during your time here?
"Certainly. You learn to see that the picture is much more complicated that you thought. When he was foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman was portrayed in the European media as an extreme right-winger who opposed any kind of compromise. But Lieberman has his own peace plan and he is the one leading the push for secular issues in Israel. Oh, the Austrian media often says that the religious camp in Israel is against peace with the Palestinians. But that's not right at all. Or take the issue of the settlements. Can we say that all settlers are the same?
"The second thing I learned is how small everything here is. On a visit to northern Israel, you understand that Damascus is much closer than Jerusalem. You can also say a lot of things, in theory, about the Jordan Valley, but when you see how close it is, it has an effect. It is generally said that diplomacy is 80% geography, and that's true."
Q: Would it be correct to say that in recent years, there has been a change throughout Europe in terms of attitudes toward Israel?
"Yes, I think so. The refugee crisis changed the rules of the game in Europe. In 2015, when I left Austria, a million and a half unregistered refugees made their way across Austria without permits, on the roads and the trains. That was something the like of which we'd never seen and led to a definite change in Austrians' and Europeans' way of thinking. They suddenly experienced a loss of control, because the politicians told them, 'This is something we cannot control.' People were astonished. We would hand out fines for parking violations, but here, with a million and a half refugees who weren't supposed to be in our country, the government was saying, 'We can't do anything.'"
A few months after the refugee crisis began, Weiss hosted Austria's minister of the interior. The minister's itinerary included something that would have been inconceivable a few months earlier – a visit to the massive fence that Israel built on its border with Egypt.
"We were photographed in front of the fence, with the media watching, and he was proud to do it. The message was, 'This is how you build a wall.' These are images that you couldn't have imagined an Austrian politician taking three years earlier. All of a sudden, Europe saw Israel – at least to some extent – as dealing with a complex problem of illegal migrants. Suddenly, building a fence didn't seem so ridiculous."
Q: But in Europe in general and the European Union especially, there is still a negative atmosphere when it comes to Israel. For years, the EU hasn't done anything to improve its ties with Israel because the Palestinian issue isn't progressing. What is your opinion?
"I think that link makes no sense, and it's wrong. It's one thing to be in contact with a certain country and look at how you can move forward with it, and it's another thing to solve a separate and especially complicated issue. You can't coerce one issue through another issue. It makes no sense, and it doesn't help."
Q: Let's talk about ties between Austria and Israel. You said there has been an improvement.
"The change encompasses the entire political map. In recent years, nearly every Austrian government has visited Israel. And what you see in politics is expressed in the economy, too. This year alone, [Israeli] tourism grew by 23%, and for the first time over 800,000 Israelis spent more than one night in Austria. That's enormous growth. These are Israelis who travel to Austria in the summer or to ski with their children, and they meet ordinary Austrians and get a complete picture of Austria, just like I got the full picture of Israel in my years here.
"If we look forward 20 years and this trend continues, this – not one act or one speech – will be what changes how the countries see each other. Another thing: all the universities in Austria have passed a decision to oppose BDS. From the Right to the Left, including everyone in between, there is a desire for ties with Israel."
Q: After all that, if you tell the people sitting in this restaurant that Germany and Austria are changing their attitude toward Jews, they won't believe you. Europe and anti-Semitism will always go hand-in-hand, and just on Yom Kippur, there was a terrorist attack at a synagogue [in Halle, Germany].
"Einstein said that it was easier to break the atom than to break a prejudice. Every one of us has some prejudice against some country, even if we've never been there. Of course, the Israelis are always conscious of what happened in the Holocaust and they won't forget it, even if Austria is confronting its past better now. They won't forget the past, and I definitely understand their doubts. It takes a very long time to change relations. But it starts with personal ties. Because if you have an Austrian friend and someone tells you, 'All Austrians are Nazis,' you'll tell him that's wrong because you know at least one Austrian who isn't.
"Anti-Semitism cannot be erased. But in my opinion, though close ties and dialogue, and mutual recognition such as student exchanges or the Austrian volunteers who come here [to Israel], we can improve things. Because today, if someone in Austria says, 'The Jews are responsible for all our problems,' someone will get up and tell him, 'Damn it, that's wrong. Enough of this bullshit. You're saying it's the Jews, and someone else says it's the Muslims, and a third person will say it's the Communists.' Today, there are a lot of people in Austria, essentially most people, who will stand up and say, 'Enough.' That's a sign of change and it's what we want."
'Israel will decide for itself'
One of the most difficult subjects that arose during Weiss' term as ambassador was how Israel would handle Austria's Freedom Party. On one hand, its leader Heinz-Christian Strache has made attempts to eradicate anti-Semitism and racism from the party ranks. On the other, the Jewish community in Austria, as well as others, claim that it's all a sham and the party will always be pro-Nazi. When I ask Weiss' opinion, he replies, "There is no doubt that the party has Nazi roots. There is also no doubt that its former leader, Jorg Haider, also made anti-Semitic remarks.
"But the way I see it, problems like these should also be solved through dialogue. In recent years, the party has tried to confront its past. There were efforts that sparked hope, but I won't be the one to say whether it's enough. Dialogue is always preferable to a lack of dialogue. That is how to exert influence on controversial issues. If a representative of the Freedom Party says something unacceptable, and you have ties to the party, you can send a message and have an influence. If there's no dialogue, I don't see how change can be affected."
Q: Was the Israeli boycott of the Freedom Party when it joined the previous Austrian government a mistake?
"I didn't say that. Israel will make its own decisions. It doesn't need any outsider to tell it what to do. But I've never understood why a meeting between the Israeli ambassador in Vienna and a representative of the Freedom Party is considered 'authorization' of that party. Really, in a meeting like that the Israeli ambassador could have been very tough and laid out everything he saw as unacceptable in what the party was doing. That is how dialogue works, and personally, I think it's a stronger tactic."
Q: To conclude, please share one or two memorable experiences from your time in Israel.
"A few months after we arrived, there was a terrorist attack in Turkey in which Israelis were wounded. Your foreign ministry immediately sent out a flight with doctors to treat them and bring back all the wounded. I can say that no other place in the world does that.
"Israel is very special in that sense. What country in the world closes down highways, or restaurants, or airports, or all industry, for a single day? Only Israel. That points to the spirituality and the importance religion has here.
"What I can completely understand is how important it is that this country exists. Because if I were a Jew living outside Israel I might need to decide whether to allow my child to put himself in danger by walking around wearing a kippa or make him cover it with a hat. This is a dilemma that could arise in almost any country in the world – except one, and that's Israel. And that is the big difference here."
