Kreisky, Israel, and Jewish Identity
The personal and professional life of Bruno Kreisky (1911–1990), Austria’s long-serving Socialist chancellor from August 1970 to May 1983, has been the focus of many books and articles. However, his ambiguous and complex relationship to his Jewishness, the State of Israel, and Zionism, as well as his connections to his overall political project and global aspirations, remain only partially researched. This book studies and analyzes these more systematically and comprehensively and places Kreisky in a comparative perspective with other twentieth-century European Jewish politicians who attained similar pinnacles of power. At the same time, the book will show that Bruno Kreisky was among the most influential and controversial political leaders since World War II. The book revolves around understanding and illuminating the myriad ways in which Kreisky’s Jewishness was—or was not—a formative factor in his treatment of “Jewish” questions within Austrian politics, Austrian-Israeli relations, and his active engagement in Middle Eastern affairs. This deeper understanding mainly emerges through examining Kreisky’s actions during several pivotal events like the Kreisky-Peter-Wiesenthal affair, the Waldheim affair, the 1973 Marchegg incident, and his overall relationship to Zionism, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian Arab world. This book is not a comprehensive biography of Kreisky. Instead, it attempts to document and place Kreisky’s fraught engagement with his Jewishness and the related sensitive issues that touched upon it in a historical, political, ideological, and personal context. This mainly comes down to the entangled and always-ambiguous politics of identity, especially his understanding of his Jewishness.
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Kreisky, Israel, and Jewish Identity
The personal and professional life of Bruno Kreisky (1911–1990), Austria’s long-serving Socialist chancellor from August 1970 to May 1983, has been the focus of many books and articles. However, his ambiguous and complex relationship to his Jewishness, the State of Israel, and Zionism, as well as his connections to his overall political project and global aspirations, remain only partially researched. This book studies and analyzes these more systematically and comprehensively and places Kreisky in a comparative perspective with other twentieth-century European Jewish politicians who attained similar pinnacles of power. At the same time, the book will show that Bruno Kreisky was among the most influential and controversial political leaders since World War II. The book revolves around understanding and illuminating the myriad ways in which Kreisky’s Jewishness was—or was not—a formative factor in his treatment of “Jewish” questions within Austrian politics, Austrian-Israeli relations, and his active engagement in Middle Eastern affairs. This deeper understanding mainly emerges through examining Kreisky’s actions during several pivotal events like the Kreisky-Peter-Wiesenthal affair, the Waldheim affair, the 1973 Marchegg incident, and his overall relationship to Zionism, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian Arab world. This book is not a comprehensive biography of Kreisky. Instead, it attempts to document and place Kreisky’s fraught engagement with his Jewishness and the related sensitive issues that touched upon it in a historical, political, ideological, and personal context. This mainly comes down to the entangled and always-ambiguous politics of identity, especially his understanding of his Jewishness.
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Kreisky, Israel, and Jewish Identity

Kreisky, Israel, and Jewish Identity

by Daniel Aschheim
Kreisky, Israel, and Jewish Identity
Kreisky, Israel, and Jewish Identity

Kreisky, Israel, and Jewish Identity

by Daniel Aschheim

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Overview

The personal and professional life of Bruno Kreisky (1911–1990), Austria’s long-serving Socialist chancellor from August 1970 to May 1983, has been the focus of many books and articles. However, his ambiguous and complex relationship to his Jewishness, the State of Israel, and Zionism, as well as his connections to his overall political project and global aspirations, remain only partially researched. This book studies and analyzes these more systematically and comprehensively and places Kreisky in a comparative perspective with other twentieth-century European Jewish politicians who attained similar pinnacles of power. At the same time, the book will show that Bruno Kreisky was among the most influential and controversial political leaders since World War II. The book revolves around understanding and illuminating the myriad ways in which Kreisky’s Jewishness was—or was not—a formative factor in his treatment of “Jewish” questions within Austrian politics, Austrian-Israeli relations, and his active engagement in Middle Eastern affairs. This deeper understanding mainly emerges through examining Kreisky’s actions during several pivotal events like the Kreisky-Peter-Wiesenthal affair, the Waldheim affair, the 1973 Marchegg incident, and his overall relationship to Zionism, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian Arab world. This book is not a comprehensive biography of Kreisky. Instead, it attempts to document and place Kreisky’s fraught engagement with his Jewishness and the related sensitive issues that touched upon it in a historical, political, ideological, and personal context. This mainly comes down to the entangled and always-ambiguous politics of identity, especially his understanding of his Jewishness.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781608012879
Publisher: University of New Orleans Press
Publication date: 11/01/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 16 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Daniel Aschheim, Ph.D., has served as Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Midwest since September of 2020. Previously, Aschheim served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Dakar, Senegal. As Deputy Consul General, Aschheim’s portfolio includes overseeing economic, cultural, press, academic, interfaith, and community outreach initiatives in the Consulate’s nine-state Midwestern region. Before becoming a diplomat, Aschheim, a Jerusalem native, worked as a director and advisor in the public and NGO sectors and as a senior trainer in the business, public, and education sectors. Aschheim holds a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he completed his MA in European Studies. His BA in Government, Diplomacy and Strategy was completed at Reichman University (IDC Herzliya).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 11

Preface Günter Bischof 13

Chapter 1 Introduction 21

Introduction 21

Literature Review 31

Chapter 2 Kreisky's Jewishness in Historical Context 37

Bruno Kreisky: Jewishness and Life in Vienna 37

Identity and Complexity: Kreisky's Jewishness 41

Chapter 3 Kreisky and the Austrian "Victim's Doctrine" 49

The Austrian "Victim's Doctrine" 29

Kreisky and the Austrian "Victim's Doctrine" 55

Kreisky and Antisemitism in Austria 63

Chapter 4 Political Scandals 69

The Kreisky-Peter-Wiesenthal Affair 69

The Waldheim Affair 94

Chapter 5 Kreisky and the 1973 Marchegg Incident 105

Background to Marchegg Incident 106

Jewish Immigration through Austria 107

Kreisky and Jewish Immigration 112

Terrorism in Austria 113

Kreisky's Anti-Terrorism Policy 115

Kreisky's Decision to Close the Schönau Transit Camp 117

The Politics and Symbolism of Identity: Bruno Kreisky Meets Golda Meir 123

Kreisky, Schönau, and the International Community 135

Post-Schönau: Kreisky and the Continuation of Jewish Immigration through Austria 138

Israeli Reactions to the Schönau Incident 140

Austrian Reactions to the Schönau Incident 142

The Austrian Jewish Community's Reaction to Kreisky and the Schönau Incident 145

Marchegg and the Yom Kippur War 147

Planned Deception? 150

Kreisky and the Yom Kippur War: The Scandal of Knowledge and Inaction 152

Marchegg as a Significant Historical Event 157

Chapter 6 Kreisky, Zionism, Israel, and the Palestinian Arab World 161

Identity and Complexity: Kreisky's Relationship to Zionism and Israel 161

Kreisky and Israeli Leaders 169

Bruno and Paid Kreisky: A Surprising Fraternal Interlude 179

Kreisky, Israel, the Middle East, and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 183

Kreisky the Visionary 199

Kreisky and Other Jewish Politicians 201

Chapter 7 Conclusion 205

References 211

Archival Sources 211

Oral Histories 212

Works Cited 214

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