Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Israeli Political Strategist Runs Afoul Of Anti-Nazi Laws In Austria

An Israeli political strategist might have broken Austria’s anti-Nazi laws in launching an attack campaign against the country’s People’s Party by labeling its leader an anti-Semite.

Silberstein, who was charged with corruption in Israel over the summer, helped set up Facebook platforms that slammed Elisabeth Koestinger, head of the People’s Party, as an anti-Semite. He did so in his capacity as an adviser to the country’s Social Democrats – who said they had no hand in his activities.

The Social Democrats fired him this summer – after the charges came down in Israel. The Silberstein controversy has been a main discussion in the Austrian political scene in the run-up to parliamentary elections in two weeks.

The Social Democrats, the center-left party, are in hot contention with the center-right People’s Party to see who will retain more control in the nation’s parliament.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

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.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version