BREAKING NEWS

Abbas retracts charge that rabbis called for poisoning Palestinian wells

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday morning retracted accusations he made days prior about Israeli rabbis calling for the poisoning of Palestinian wells, the New York Times reported.
The Palestinian Liberation Organization, which Abbas chairs, issued the retraction after the PA president made the unsubstantiated charge in an address Thursday to the European Parliament.
The comments prompted a harsh response from Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing Abbas of propagating blood libel, referring to the anti-Semitic allegations against Jews that arose in the Middle Ages.
According to the Times, the PLO's statement Saturday said that Abbas “rejected all claims that accuse him and the Palestinian people of offending the Jewish religion.