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German chancellor speaks with Israeli PM Lapid following Abbas Holocaust remark in Berlin

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday, addressing remarks about the Holocaust made by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas during a recent visit to Berlin.

Scholz had tweeted on Wednesday that Abbas's claim that Israel has committed "50 Holocausts" against Palestinians was "intolerable and unacceptable." He then wanted to address it directly with Lapid, who is the son of Holocaust survivors.

"At the start of their conversation, the German Chancellor emphasized that he rejects and condemns Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s remarks, and that it was important for him to clarify this personally to the Prime Minister, as well as publicly," Lapid's office said in a press release about their conversation. 

"I thanked him for this condemnation as Israel’s Prime Minister and the son of a Holocaust survivor," Lapid said in a tweet acknowledging the conversation. The two leaders then addressed a current existential threat to the Jewish State: Iran. The Islamic nation's leadership has often vowed to wipe Israel off the map, and recent negotiations for a new international agreement regarding its nuclear program have yet to bear fruit.

In their conversation, Lapid stressed Israel's opposition to returning to the original deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which Israel had viewed as not going far enough to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. Lapid stressed to Scholz that Europe cannot make concessions to Iran, nor should they allow Iran to delay the negotiating process. The Israeli prime minister reiterated this on Twitter.  "Iran cannot be allowed to endlessly buy time in Vienna," he said. 

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