6 | SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022
1942 - 2022
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PURELY COMMENTARY
his entire adult life.
He wrote his doctoral
thesis on the premise of a
partnership between Zionists
and Nazis and argued that
the number of Jews who
perished in the Holocaust
was vastly overblown. Over
the years, he has repeatedly
made the case that “only” a
few hundred thousand Jews
were killed and that the six
million figure was concocted
for public relations purposes.
Just four years ago, Abbas
claimed that Jews in Europe
were massacred for centuries
because of their “social role
related to usury and banks.”
Such is the state of
moderation in the Middle
East.
Scholz did not exactly
cover himself with glory,
remaining silent through
the remainder of the news
conference after Abbas’ slurs
and then shaking his hand
afterward before eventually
criticizing Abbas several
hours later. He has been
condemned in Germany and
abroad for not speaking out
more quickly. The fact that
German law actually forbids
Holocaust denial heightens
Scholz’s embarrassment even
further.
Yet the German leader’s
reaction underscores the
tenuous nature of Israel’s
relationships with many
European countries and
reinforces the importance
of strengthening ties with
its Arab neighbors. It also
reminds us of the scope
of the challenge that those
of us who want to achieve
peace in the Middle East
still face. Israel’s improved
relationships in the region
certainly provide greater
security for its people. But
while praise for these efforts
is entirely justified, Abbas’
hate-filled remarks are a
testament to the obstacles to
peace that still lie ahead.
In the three-dimensional
chess game that is Middle
Eastern geopolitics, other
events occurred recently
that could have a greater
impact on Israel’s future
than Abbas’ insults. While
the most “reasonable” of
Palestinian leaders was
blaspheming the memories
of six million dead Jews,
Iranian negotiators were
withdrawing a key demand
from the negotiations over
that country’s nuclear
capabilities. Iran’s decision
to drop the requirement that
their Revolutionary Guard
Corps be removed from the
State Department’s terrorist
organization blacklist makes
a final deal slightly more
likely and accentuates the
mutual animosity toward Iran
that binds Israel to a growing
number of Arab states.
Henry Kissinger famously
said that there are no
permanent friends or
enemies, only interests. So
the juxtaposition of the
negotiations with Iran and
Abbas’ ugly revisionism
provides a cautionary note
that the stronger relationships
between Israel and some
of its neighbors does not
reflect an eradication of
age-old antisemitism in the
region but rather the current
and perhaps temporary
confluence of goals against a
common threat.
If Abbas is a moderate,
permanent friendships in this
dangerous neighborhood are
still a long way off.
Dan Schnur is a professor at the
University of California Berkeley, USC
and Pepperdine. This article was
originally published by the Jewish
Journal.
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