For the first time since the end of World War II, Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) was asked to form a government after the failed coalition negotiations between the conservative, social-democratic, and liberal parties and the resulting resignation of Karl Nehammer, chancellor and leader of the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP).
“Unfortunately, we have now in Austria the same development that we see all over Europe, which is the arrival to power of the ultra-rights, and the possibility that Kickl will become a chancellor”, Muzicant told The Jerusalem Post. “The only difference is that Austria and Germany are the countries of the perpetrators.
“The grandchildren of the perpetrators follow to a large extent the same ideology of their grandparents. In 1933, the Nazis came to power not because they won the absolute majority in the election but because the conservatives and the industry barons brought Hitler to power.
“Kickl is not Hitler, and 2025 is not 1933,” Muzicant continued. “However, the basic political developments are very similar. In Austria, we have people that spread Nazi ideas, including many of the FPÖ officials. We registered 225 such cases in the last 10 years.
“We informed the Israelis about them, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, and the Speaker of the Knesset. We showed them that in Austria and Germany, we are not only facing extreme-right ideas but antisemitic extreme-right ideas existing among the officials of the FPÖ and [one of Germany’s leading parties] the Alternative for Germany. Not [only] among those who vote for those parties, [but the party members themselves]. Forty percent of the FPÖ are ‘cellar Nazis.’
“Therefore, there is a huge difference if you compare Austria to Italy, Holland, or Hungary, where far-right parties are [the] ruling parties. For many Jews in Europe, these political developments are a problem. Many European Jews will have to decide if they want to go on living in Europe under these circumstances.”
