Phone call with Israeli

Stocker invited ex-hostage Shoham to the Chancellery

Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker spoke to former hostage Tal Shoham on the phone.

(Bild: Jöchl Martin)

Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) and Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen spoke on the phone with former hostage Tal Shoham on Wednesday. Stocker invited the Austro-Israeli and his family to visit the Federal Chancellery in Vienna. Shoham was kidnapped by the terrorist organization Hamas on 7 October 2023.

"I am immensely pleased that Tal Shoham was able to return to his loved ones after 505 seemingly endless days," said Stocker. "At the same time, there are still too many hostages in the clutches of Hamas and their families are eagerly awaiting their return." Austria's government would support all efforts to achieve the ceasefire and hostage agreement between Hamas and Israel's government.

Stocker also invited Shoham and his family to come to the Federal Chancellery during their next stay in Vienna. Although Shoham was "relieved about his release", he was also concerned "about those people who are still being held hostage", said Van der Bellen.

From left: Adi Shoham, Israel's President Yitzhak Herzog and Tal Shoham

(Bild: zVg)

Shoham's grandmother fled from Nazis in Vienna
The former hostage had been abducted with her wife Adi and their two children, eight-year-old Naveh and three-year-old Yahel. They had been visiting their parents-in-law at the time. Shoham is the grandson of a Holocaust survivor from Vienna. His grandmother had fled Vienna from the Nazis in the 1930s. As a result, her son Gilad Korngold and her grandchildren were also entitled to an Austrian passport. She herself lived in Israel until her death.

Her mother-in-law, Shoshan Haran, was also deported to the Gaza Strip, as were Adi's aunt and her twelve-year-old daughter. Three other family members, including the children's grandfather, were murdered in the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023. Adi and the two children, who have German citizenship, and other relatives were released on November 25, 2023.