Berlin/Tel-Aviv, 19 August : German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the Israeli head of government to criticize the Holocaust analogy used by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier this week in Berlin. In his meeting with Israeli Premier Yair Lapid, Scholz stressed “that he is adamantly opposed to any attempt to discredit or denigrate the Holocaust,” German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit stated on Thursday.
Abbas His comments in Berlin were unacceptable and totally unacceptable for him personally , and to the overall German government The German Chancellor stated in a statement to Hebestreit.
Standing alongside Scholz for an announcement The Palestinian President, on Tuesday claimed that Israel of being the crime of committing a “Holocaust” against Palestinians as DPA news agency reported.
“Israel has carried out 50 mass murders in 50 Palestinian places in the years since 1947.” Abbas said, adding: “50 massacres, 50 Holocausts.”
The German Chancellor was able to listen to Abbas’s response with a expression of surprise and anger and did not give an immediate response, which prompted protests from the conservatives in Germany.He then issued statements praising Abbas for his comments.
In the telephone conversation on Thursday with Lapid, Scholz went on to state that keeping the memories of the Shoah which is the Hebrew word for ‘Holocaust remains a obligation of the present and all German government.
Lapid’s office confirmed the phone call, stating that Scholz had reiterated his denial and disapproval of Abbas the statements of Abbas.
“Prime Minister Lapid thanked him as the Premier of Israel and also as the son of Holocaust survivors,” according to a statement from the office of Lapid.
“The two leaders emphasized the importance of relations between Israel and Germany and agreed to maintain the relationship between their two nations in different areas,” the statement added.
A Berlin police spokeswoman informed the German Bild tabloid that an investigation in the preliminary stage started in the case of suspicion of incitement to hatred was being carried out by a special state police department.
The German Foreign Office told the publication that they were under assumption that Abbas was exempt from prosecution since he was in Germany on an “official visit” to Germany.
Expert in the field of criminal law Michael Kubiciel however said whether Abbas was on an official visit wasn’t the main factor that determines the immunity of a person, but if he was in Germany as an “representative of another state”.This would determine the question of whether Palestine is considered to be a state or not, Kubiciel told Bild.
Germany has not officially recognized Palestine as a country.
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