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Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid visiting Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin
Photo: CHRISTIAN MANG / REUTERS
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas paid a visit to the Chancellery last month.
He caused a lot of resentment with Holocaust statements, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was sharply criticized for his lack of reaction.
Scholz has now received Israel's Prime Minister Jair Lapid in Berlin - and was praised by him.
It was obvious that Scholz was surprised by the statements, said Lapid after meeting Scholz in Berlin.
“I thanked the Chancellor for reacting to what Abbas said afterwards.” Looking at Scholz, Lapid added: “We appreciate that he said it so clearly.”
At a joint press conference with Scholz, Abbas accused Israel of a multiple "Holocaust" against the Palestinians, thereby triggering outrage.
He had said: »Israel has committed 50 massacres in 50 Palestinian towns since 1947 to the present day.
50 massacres, 50 holocausts.« The Chancellor did not reply to this at the press conference and only later distanced himself clearly.
This was criticized by many as too late.
"Disgusting, was disrespectful and terrible"
"What President Abbas said was disgusting, disrespectful and terrible, just awful," Lapid said.
"The Holocaust can't be compared with anything." It worries him that this style of expression is not only found in Abbas' statements in Germany, but also in Palestinian school books.
"These horrible hate-mongerings are taught to children," Lapid said.
»This has to concern the civilized world.«
Aside from the Abbas statement, Lapid and Scholz spoke, among other things, about the Iranian nuclear program and an energy partnership.
With its gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean, Israel could replace around ten percent of the Russian gas that Russia has previously supplied to Europe, said Lapid.
He hopes that Israel can expand its supplies as early as 2023.
The country had signed a contract with Egypt and the EU Commission to deliver gas to the EU via Egypt.
Scholz emphasized that any contribution from alternative gas supplies would be helpful.
Even if the Israeli gas does not come to Germany, it will end up on the world market and thus help to depress the current high price.
In the EU, however, an expansion of the pipeline infrastructure to southern Europe is also necessary.
mrc/dpa/Reuters
