Austrian Press Agency (APA) (06/05/05)
Plassnik presented citizenship to the former Editor-in-Chief of the "Jerusalem Post"
Jerusalem - At the age of eighty the former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, Ari Rath, is once again an Austrian. At a reception in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik presented Rath with a "surprise gift" documenting citizenship. After having previously declined citizenship in the past, Rath submitted an application for naturalization in May of 2005.
Born in 1925 in Vienna, Rath was forced to emigrate in 1938 and went to Palestine where he gained initial journalistic experience as an assistant correspondent to the Special Meeting of the United Nations in New York that was called to solve the Palestinian problem. From 1975 to 1989, he was publisher and editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, which under Rath represented a liberal line. To this day he is still considered one of the most distinguished journalists in Israel.
Rath expressed concern to members of the Austrian press about the present tension between Ariel Sharon’s government and radical settlers over the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. He feared that among the settlers some of the extremists could cause great damage.
Plassnik presented citizenship to the former Editor-in-Chief of the "Jerusalem Post"
Jerusalem - At the age of eighty the former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, Ari Rath, is once again an Austrian. At a reception in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik presented Rath with a "surprise gift" documenting citizenship. After having previously declined citizenship in the past, Rath submitted an application for naturalization in May of 2005.
Born in 1925 in Vienna, Rath was forced to emigrate in 1938 and went to Palestine where he gained initial journalistic experience as an assistant correspondent to the Special Meeting of the United Nations in New York that was called to solve the Palestinian problem. From 1975 to 1989, he was publisher and editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, which under Rath represented a liberal line. To this day he is still considered one of the most distinguished journalists in Israel.
Rath expressed concern to members of the Austrian press about the present tension between Ariel Sharon’s government and radical settlers over the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. He feared that among the settlers some of the extremists could cause great damage.