The Austrian government is developing a plan to fight anti-Semitism following a recent series of attacks targeting members of the Jewish community, the Algemeiner news site reported on Friday.
The latest such incident occurred when Elie Rosen, a local Jewish community leader in Vienna, was nearly assaulted in a suspected anti-Semitic attack last week when an unidentified man attempted to wound him with a wooden club.
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Rosen was not injured in the attack. Police said that a 31-year-old Syrian refugee was later arrested in connection with the incident in the city Graz.
And earlier this month, a synagogue in Graz was found vandalized with the words "Free Palestine" spray painted on the front entrance of the building, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The city, located about 80 miles southwest of Vienna, has an estimated Jewish population of 150 members.
Karoline Edtstadler, Austrian Minister for European Policy, said the incident prompted her to act and work on measures to combat anti-Semitism.
An outline of the plan seeks to establish a new department dealing with such instances within the Austrian Chancellery Office.
A new online platform is also under development and will allow Internet users to report any "anti-Semitic and/or anti-Zionist incident" across the country.
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Edtstadler also confirmed that Israeli descendants of Holocaust victims will soon be allowed to obtain Austrian citizenship.
"Citizenship applications will be accepted from September 1," she said.
Previously, only the survivors themselves had the right to obtain citizenship. In addition, it was only offered to those who had left Austria before 1945.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
