Israel Government “disappointed” over Austria’s Stand on Claims

The Israel Government is “disappointed” that negotiations between Austria and the Jewish Committee for Claims Against Austria have not yet reached a satisfactory conclusion, particularly in the matter of the Jewish demand for a lump sum settlement of heirless Jewish property, Premier Moshe Sharett today declared in Parliament.

The Premier said that Israel expects that Austria will show the necessary understanding in this matter. He underlined the fact that last January Arieh Eshel. Israel envoy in Vienna, presented a memorandum to the Austrian Foreign Office expressing Israel’s interest in a reasonable settlement of the Jewish claims and concern over the current deadlock.

Mr. Sharett’s statements were made in response to a query from George Flesh, leading member of the General Zionist Party, who demanded to know what the government was doing to protect the interests and rights of thousands of Israeli citizens who were former Austrian citizens and who were “severely affected by attempts of the Austrian Government to evade the just claims of the world Jewish organizations.”

The Premier told the House that the Israel Government was in continuous contact with the Jewish Committee for Claims Against Austria which was seeking personal compensation for Jews persecuted by the Nazis in Austria as well as a settlement of heirless Jewish property. Mr. Sharett reviewed the course of negotiations between the Jewish group and the Austrian Government until the breakdown last Fall and stated that the Austrian Government’s negative attitude remains an obstacle to renewal of negotiations and eventual agreement.

PREMIER SHARETT OUTLINES GOVERNMENT’S VIEW ON PROBLEM

The Israel Government, he continued, is vitally interested in a solution of the problem both because many of its citizens are refugees of Nazi persecution in Austria and because it feels duty-bound to support to the fullest extent the claims of the Jewish community for property stolen from people who died at the hands of the Nazis. The government does not approve of the idea of separating the personal claims from the remainder of the Jewish claims, but supports the Jewish committee’s claims for both individual and world-wide compensation, he added.

Mr. Sharett noted that the Austrian Jewish community in 1938 numbered 183,000 persons and that it now numbers 12,000. The sum claimed by the Jewish groups, he stressed, is only a small portion of the Jewish property which fell to the Austrian state and people.