Berlin: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz voiced disgust on Wednesday at remarks by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the German leader said diminished the importance of the Holocaust, while Israel accused Abbas of telling a “monstrous lie”.
During a visit to Berlin on Tuesday, Abbas accused Israel of committing “50 Holocausts” in response to a question about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the attack on the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics by Palestinian militants.
“For us Germans in particular, any relativisation of the singularity of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable,” Scholz tweeted on Wednesday. “I am disgusted by the outrageous remarks made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.”
Scholz, the German chancellor, came under fire for not speaking up during the press conference when Abbas made the comment. Scholz’s office later summoned the head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Berlin to protest at Abbas’ remarks, a German government spokesperson said.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid called the comments a “disgrace”. Germany’s ZDF television reported that Scholz would speak to Lapid on Thursday to avoid lasting damage to ties.
Since the Holocaust and World War II, German politicians have stressed their special responsibility towards Israel.
“Mahmoud Abbas accusing Israel of having committed ’50 Holocausts’ while standing on German soil is not only a moral disgrace, but a monstrous lie,” Lapid said on Twitter.
“History will never forgive him.”
Read the article by Miranda Murray and James Mackenzie in The Sydney Morning Herald.