Austrian Federal Chancellery (06/07/2010)

The talks held by Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance Josef Pröll during his official visit to Israel on May 25 to 26, 2010 focused on the international financial crisis and the sanctions against Iran. Pröll was accompanied by a delegation including the President of the Jewish Religious Community, Ariel Muzicant.

In Jerusalem Pröll met for example with President Shimon Peres and his Israeli counterpart Yuval Steinitz. He laid wreaths at the tomb of Theodor Herzl ("Father of Zionism") and at the Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem. Pröll stated that especially this site had made a "deep impression" on him. It was the task of all following generations to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to "do their utmost" to prevent crimes of this kind in the future, warned Pröll.

Josef Pröll agreed with Minister Steinitz to strengthen the economic relations between Israel and Austria, notably in the high-tech sector and "green technology".