Austrian Jewish Leader Mends Fences With Lauder
The leader of Austria’s Jewish community said on Friday he had put aside differences with World Jewish Congress head Ron Lauder over Lauder’s alleged interference in the community’s leadership election.
Oskar Deutsch, the president of Austria’s official IKG Jewish organisation, had last month banned Lauder from IKG property over complaints that he had offered incentives to Deutsch’s rival in an election late last year.
Lauder, a prominent Jewish philanthropist and billionaire son of the founders of the Estee Lauder cosmetics empire, denied the accusation at the time.
On Friday, Deutsch said in a statement that he had invited Lauder to a meeting in Vienna on Jan. 13.
“In the context of this meeting, the differences that arose recently were able to be put aside,” Deutsch said.
Lauder’s spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
