News

C4I European Director Marie-Louise Weissenböck receives prestigious WIZO Gold Award

30 October 2019

The Women International Zionist Organization (WIZO) has awarded one of its prestigious Gold Awards to Marie-Louise Weissenböck.

Marie-Louise Weissenböck, a musician who was born and raised in South Africa, is Austrian Chairperson, European Director and International Board member of Christians for Israel International – a global network of Christians who seek to bring Biblical understanding in the Church concerning God’s faithfulness to the nation of Israel and to promote comfort of Israel and the Jewish people through prayer and action.

The award was made at the WIZO “One Night for Children” event in the Viennese City Hall, under the patronage of the Mayor of Vienna, on Sunday evening 6th October 2019. The keynote speaker at this event was Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch in Geneva.

WIZO was founded in 1920 in direct response to the needs of women and children in Israel. WIZO continues to identify the needs of Israeli society and creates solutions to meet them. With 250,000 members, WIZO is a prominent global Zionist organization, and an important agent of change for women, children and youth in Israel.

Three people were awarded the WIZO Gold Award at the event in Vienna: H.E. Talya Lador-Fresher, Ambassador of Israel to Austria, Hillel Neuer and Marie-Louise Weissenböck.

Chairperson of the WIZO board, Caroline Shklarek-Zelman, praised Weissenböck’s outstanding commitment to Israel, her special relationship with the Jewish community in Austria, and her many initiatives over recent years to fight anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

The event was attended by Austria’s Chief Rabbi Paul Chaim Eisenberg, President of the Jewish community in Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde) Oskar Deutsch, and Jewish friends of WIZO.

In response, Weissenböck said “I want to thank WIZO and the Jewish community in Vienna for this award. It is such an honor and privilege as a Christian to be able to serve the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and to show our love in acts of solidarity and service.”