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)
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