In 2017, the rightwing Austrian Freedom party (FPÖ) became part of a governing coalition in Vienna for the first time in its history. “The party owes much of its appeal to its anti-immigration campaign,” writes Hella Pick, “but alarm bells are also ringing because of the FPÖ’s anti-Semitic roots—its first leader was Anton Reinthaller, a former senior SS officer.” The party, which is expected to do very well in the upcoming elections, has tried to distance itself from its past, but its recent rise is not the only thing that disturbs the country’s Jews. Pick continues:

Today, the Jewish community in Austria has shrunk to near invisibility, standing at around 10,000 members. Anti-Semitism has become both a political and a church taboo, as the authorities promote a wide range of measures to drive home the lessons of the Holocaust. Yet anti-Semitism has not disappeared. It is nowhere near prewar levels, but it simmers below the surface.

[The former Austria president Heinz Fischer] cites general fears and uncertainties about the future as . . . factors that are driving people to vote for the FPÖ. Yet he admits that concerns about the place of anti-Semitism in the party are not without foundation: “All that having been said,” Fischer adds, “I don’t doubt that the ranks of the FPÖ still contain some anti-Semites.” Austrians designate such people as Kellernazis (cellar Nazis).

He steers clear of assessing the degree of anti-Semitism in Austria today, but a disturbing study commissioned by the Austrian parliament was published only this April. . . . The study shows that many of the old anti-Semitic shibboleths survive, with a third of those questioned believing that Jews “dominate international business” and exert growing “power and influence in politics and the media.” Between 2020 and 2022, the percentage of respondents who said Jewish people had “too much influence” rose from 11 to 19 percent.

It notes that there is significant anti-Semitism among Austria’s Turkish and Arab immigrants. . . . Negative attitudes to Israel play an important part in stimulating Austria’s anti-Semitism. The study alarmingly points out that 31 percent of people questioned believed that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians was no different from Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jews during the Second World War (the figure was 57 percent among Turkish- and Arabic-speaking respondents).

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.