Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads the Ministers’ Committee meeting on September 17, 2018. Photo: Hadas Parush/Flash90.

JNS.org – Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Vienna for meetings and to attend a conference on antisemitism, the first visit by an Israeli prime minister to the country in more than 20 years.

“It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu for an official visit to Austria!” Kurz wrote on his Twitter account, saying that he looked “forward to attending the conference together.”

Netanyahu’s two-day visit, between Nov. 20-21, comes amid increasingly close ties between Jerusalem and Austria’s right-wing government.

“2018 is a special year of commemoration. We must always remember our historic responsibility and do everything in our power to fight all forms of antisemitism,” Kurz said a video posted in another tweet.

Netanyahu is also expected to make a visit to Vienna’s main synagogue, known as Stadttempel, where he will meet representatives of Austria’s Jewish community.