New York, NY, May 1, 2018 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today condemned the anti-Semitic assertions of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made in a speech to the Palestinian National Council. In his remarks, President Abbas denied the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel and blamed Jews themselves for the Holocaust through “social behavior, [charging] interest, and financial matters.”

Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, issued the following statement:

Laden with ahistorical and pseudo-academic assertions, the Palestinian President’s latest diatribe reflects once again the depth and persistency of the anti-Semitic attitudes he harbors. With public speeches like these, it is not surprising that under Abbas’ leadership, the Palestinian Authority has failed to renounce and combat Palestinian anti-Semitic incitement, including narratives that Jews are to blame for the Holocaust and other anti-Semitic persecution, and which deny or diminish the millennial Jewish presence in and connection to the Land of Israel.

ADL’s past polling on anti-Semitic attitudes in the West Bank and Gaza has found that about 93 percent of the population in the West Bank and Gaza harbors deep seated anti-Semitic attitudes, the highest level measured in any society in the world.

ADL had previously condemned Abbas’ anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements in a January speech before the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Central Council.