The Austrian Government was criticized today in Israel’s Parliament for the limitations of its program of compensation to victims of the Nazi era in that country.
Deputy Zvi Zimnerman of the Liberal party said that 20, 000 Austrian Jews now living in Israel will receive only five to six percent of the rate of payment provided by the West German Government to Nazi era victims. He also pointed out that Austria will pay nothing to those made invalid by Nazi abuse and to those whose professions or schooling was interrupted.
Finance Minister Levi Eshkol, who managed to have the issue removed from the Knesset agenda and submitted to a parliamentary committee, called the agreement unsatisfactory. He recalled that it was achieved only after lengthy negotiations in which Dr. Nahum Goldmann participated. He added that those negotiations were undertaken after the Israel Government had exhausted every approach for a more satisfactory program. He expressed regret at the “inadequacy” of the Austrian program.
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