Vienna Israelite Community Signs Agreement "Together.Safe" with Austrian Ministry of the Interior
The new cooperation "TOGETHER.SAFE" is intended to create a dialogue between the police and the Jewish community. The Jewish Religious Community and the Austrian Ministry of the Interior launched the initiative.
Minister of the Interior Karner (l.) and the President of the Jewish Community, Oskar Deutsch (r.), with members of the Jewish Religious Society in Austria. / Picture: © BMI Bundesministerium für Inneres / Karl Schober
Austrian Federal Minister Karner and the President of the Jewish Religious Community (IRG), Oskar Deutsch, signed the agreement "Together.Safe" at the campus of the IKG Vienna.
The agreement serves to further strengthen the regular dialogue and the event-independent exchange between the members of the Jewish religious communities and the executive forces, as well as to improve the reporting and prosecution of offenses with an anti-Semitic background.
"Together.Safe" or in german "GEMEINSAM.SICHER in Österreich" will form a close interface between the Jewish community and the police in the future, Karner said, highlighting the already close cooperation between the Ministry of the Interior and the Israeli religious community at various levels. "The dialogue takes place at eye level and serves to promote mutual understanding and information exchange."
The Interior Minister stressed that it will be a regular exchange. This will take place at eye level and will reduce inhibitions in dealing with the police.
The IKG President, Oskar Deutsch, commented that security is the basis for the flourishing of Jewish life in school, the parent's home and the sports facility on the campus of the IKG Vienna.
Components of the agreement are measures such as encounter projects, training of police officers and closer cooperation with Jewish institutions. On this occasion, Interior Minister Karner visited the largest Jewish campus in Europe, which includes a home for the elderly, a school and a sports center. At this place, it becomes clear that security is the basis for Jewish life in Austria and Europe and on this basis also the Jewish community can grow and flourish.