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| Israel ambassador clashes with far right politician over Lebanon
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Israeli Ambassador to Austria Dan Ashbel
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VIENNA (EJP)--- Israeli Ambassador to Austria Dan Ashbel has recently clashed over the Lebanon conflict with far rightist Carinthian Governor Joerg Haider.
Ashbel conceded at a press conference that civilian victims of Israeli attacks, as in Qana in south Lebanon, were "a plus in the PR war" for Hezbollah.
Haider reacted angrily: "With more than 50 murdered civilians and children, casually talking about a ’plus in the PR war’ and finding no words of regret cannot be exceeded in arrogance and cold-heartedness.
"An ambassador like that has no business in Austria and should be expelled at once," added Haider, reinforcing his previous demand for Ashbel to be "sent home."
The reaction came after Ashbel’s speech, in which he defended Israel’s military operations.
He also criticised the international community for what he perceived as lack of support for Israel during a fight against terrorism directed by Hezbollah.
"The international community did absolutely nothing to change the situation".
He also slammed the EU, saying that Hezbollah was "still not" officially on its list of condemned terrorist organisations.
Far right-wing populist Haider, known for having publicly praised Hitler’s employment policies and deemed SS officers "men of honour", slammed not just Israel but also the US for its support of that country.
"The US must change its policy of war and call Israel back."
He said that America would use Israel in following a scorched-earth policy in the Middle East, after having already instigated total chaos in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Foreign Minister [Condoleezza] Rice is already dreaming of a ‘new Middle East’, and for this, crusaders of a special form are underway to provoke violence."
He said that the US would not fight the so-called ‘axis of evil’; rather, "they are the axis of evil."
Relations between Israel and Austria have improved over recent years after having plummeted in 2000.
Israel then withdrew its ambassador in protest against the Freedom Party (FPÖ), which won 27 per cent of the vote in the late 1999 general election.
The move also prompted the EU to impose diplomatic sanctions against Austria, turning it into a sort of EU pariah state overnight.
The reason that the Freedom Party had caused such alarm in the European Union was partly because of bold and offensive comments Haider had made on several occasions. These led some in the international community to conclude that he was a supporter of right-wing extremism.
In October 1990, while addressing a gathering of WWII and SS veterans, he said "Our soldiers were not criminals; at most, they were victims."
Just a year later, he announced that, "in the Third Reich, there was an "orderly employment policy".
In 1995, he referred to "the punishment camps of National Socialism", an expression that some believed implied that death camp inmates had been justly imprisoned.
In December of that same year, he announced that "The Waffen SS was a part of the Wehrmacht (German military) and hence deserves all the honour and respect due to the army in public life."
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