Israeli minister: Abbas most antisemitic leader in the world
He is the latest in a string of right-wing leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to attack Abbas for presenting himself as a peace maker.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFUpdated: MAY 7, 2017 14:31Mahmoud Abbas(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “is the most antisemitic leader in the world,” Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio on Sunday.He spoke in advance of his speech to The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York at 4:25 p.m. Israeli time, which will be live streamed at www.jpost.comHe is the latest in a string of right-wing leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to attack Abbas for presenting himself as a peace maker when speaking at a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump at the White House last Wednesday.In that meeting Trump said he was relaunching the Israeli-Palestinian peace process which has been frozen for three years and has since announced a visit to Israel at the end of this month.Trump is a good friend to Israel, said Steinitz, adding that he was pleased the US president was coming to Jerusalem early in his first term.“But with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. I am not optimistic. Abu Mazen [the second name Abbas is known by] doesn’t begin to meet the most basic requirements to be a partner for peace,” Steinitz said.“In Washington he spoke about peace and educating for peace. But the basic messages of the Palestinian educational system is that Israel must disappear from the map sooner or later. Jews are terrible people that must be gotten rid of and terrorists are heroes,” Steinitz stressed.“On top of that Abu Mazen does not control Gaza,” he added.Trump-Abbas meeting in Washington. (Reuters)The Energy Minister also noted that Abbas will not be able to get rid of terrorist groups, militias and the tunnels these groups want to use against Israel.“What is the point of coming to an agreement with him, if he does not have a mandate, not in Gaza and not in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank],” Steinitz concluded.