Scholz did not verbally react to Abbas’s comment at this time, although he did grimace at the use of the word, which Abbas pronounced in English. Scholz later said that using the term in such a context was “intolerable”. Reacting to the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid called Abbas’ comments a “moral travesty” and a “terrible distortion”. Abbas made his comments when the two spoke to the media after a meeting on Middle East issues. Abbas was responding to a reporter’s question about the upcoming anniversary of the Munich massacre half a century ago. Eleven Israeli athletes and a German policeman died when members of the Palestinian militant group Black September took hostages in the Olympic Village on September 5, 1972. At the time of the attack, the group was affiliated with Abbas’s Fatah party. Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms Asked if, as Palestinian leader, he planned to apologize to Israel and Germany for the attack ahead of the 50th anniversary, Abbas instead responded by citing allegations of atrocities committed by Israel since 1947. “If we want to overcome the past, go ahead,” Abbas, who spoke Arabic, told reporters. “I have 50 massacres committed by Israel….50 massacres, 50 massacres, 50 holocausts,” he said, making sure to pronounce the last word in English. The PLO leader would have won sympathy if he had apologized for the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Instead, accusing Israel of “50 Holocausts” is the most disgusting speech ever heard in German Chancellery pic.twitter.com/35O8QYcPYt — Armin Laschet (@ArminLaschet) August 16, 2022 Soltz brushed off the use of the word but said nothing. The popular German newspaper BILD published an outraged top story about the incident, titled “Anti-Semitism Scandal in the Federal Chancellery.” He expressed shock that “not a word of disagreement [was said] in the face of the worst relativization of the Holocaust ever uttered by a head of government in the chancellor’s office.” A headline on the website of German newspaper BILD expresses shock at Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’ use of the term “holocaust” to describe past Israeli actions. (Snapshot) Der Spiegel, Welt, Junge Freiheit and other media outlets also ran headlines noting Scholz’s silence during the press conference. Germany has long argued that the term should only be used to describe the Nazis’ single crime of killing six million Jews before and during World War II. A spokesman for Scholz told BILD that “before the Chancellor could counter this outrageous proposal, the government spokesman had already tuned into the press conference – as usual after the last question/answer block – which visibly annoyed Scholz. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on August 16, 2022. (Jens Schlueter/AFP) “The government spokesman then told reporters still present, who could not help but sense the Chancellor’s annoyance, how outraged the Chancellor was at the statement and also that he had not had the opportunity to disagree openly [Abbas] one more time.” In a statement to BILD, Scholz added: “Especially for us Germans, any relativization of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable.” Lapid tweeted on Monday night that Abbas’s “statement of ’50 holocausts’ while on German soil is not only a moral travesty but also a terrible distortion…History will not forgive him.” Earlier, during the same press conference, Scholz had pushed back against Abbas by using the term “apartheid” to describe Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians. Abbas, who often accuses Israel of practicing apartheid, said in Berlin that “Israel’s undermining of the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and turning it into a reality of an apartheid state will not serve the security and stability in our region”. Said Soltz: “Of course we have a different view of Israeli policy, and I want to make it clear here that I do not support the use of the word ‘apartheid’ and I don’t think it properly describes the situation.” In his remarks, the Palestinian Authority president also said he is committed to building trust and reaching a peaceful solution to the conflict with Israel. “Please come in peace,” he said. “Please come to security, let’s build trust between us and you. This is better than other kinds of speech.’ Weeks ahead of a planned somber commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Munich attack, Germany has also found itself embroiled in controversy over its dealings with relatives of Israelis killed. The families of the victims announced last week that they planned to boycott the ceremony after failing to reach an agreement on more compensation from the German government. The athletes’ relatives have long accused Germany of failing to secure the Olympic Village, refusing Israeli aid and botching a rescue operation in which five of the attackers died. In this Sept. 5, 1972, file photo, a member of the Arab Commando team that captured members of the Israeli Olympic Team at their residences in Munich’s Olympic Village is seen with a hood over his face on the balcony of the village building where commandos held members hostage of the Israeli team. (AP Photo/Kurt Strumpf, File) Abbas has previously courted controversy over comments about the Holocaust, including a 2018 claim that Jewish “social behavior” — not anti-Semitism — was the cause of Nazi Germany’s genocide of European Jews, for which he later apologized . The PA leader’s 1982 PhD thesis was titled “The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism” and he has previously been accused of denying the scope of the Holocaust. The thesis allegedly argued that the Holocaust’s six million victim figure was grossly exaggerated and that Zionist leaders collaborated with the Nazis. Also during the press conference, Scholtz said he does not believe the time has come to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, something Abbas has repeatedly called for. ToI Archive, May 2018: After blaming Jews for Holocaust, Abbas apologizes and condemns anti-Semitism * Lipstadt: With ‘classic anti-Semitism’, Abbas ends career as it began You are a devoted reader We are really glad that you read X Times of Israel articles last month. That’s why we started the Times of Israel ten years ago – to provide discerning readers like you with the must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world. So now we have a request. 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