Olmert meets with Holocaust Denier

On the Eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, PM Olmert is meeting with a man who wrote his doctorate denying the Holocaust- PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
According to Artuz-7 news:Abbas wrote his doctorate in 1982 in Moscow, at the Institute for Oriental Studies. The heading of his doctoral thesis was: "Zionist Leadership and the Nazis." The introduction dealt with, among other topics, "the secret ties between the Nazis and the Zionist movement leadership." It further raised doubts that gas chambers were used to kill the Jews. He argued that the gas chambers were not used to kill people, but only to disinfect them and burn bodies to prevent disease.

Abbas's dissertation was adapted into a book and published in Jordan in 1984. Journalist David Bedein noted that the book is currently in use in the Palestinian Authority education system, under the direct control of the PA chairman.

Abbas claimed in his work that the Zionist leadership was interested in convincing the world that a large number of Jews were killed during the war in order to "attain larger gains" after the war and to "divide the booty." His primary claim is that the Zionist movement and its various branches worked hand-in-hand with the Nazis against the Jewish people, collaborating with them for the Jews' destruction, because the Zionist leaders viewed "Palestine" as the only legitimate place for Jewish immigration.

The meeting between the Israeli leaders and Abbas took place at the Prime Minister's official residence in Jerusalem and dealt with security-related issues. Abu Mazen (Abbas) brought to the meeting a list of demands to ease security measures and more restrictions that were established to prevent terrorists from infiltrating Israel.

PA Hamas officials said that these talks were on the agenda for the sole purpose of pleasing US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and that nothing good will come out of them.

Likud Party officials charged that the Olmert administration is a "dying government" that has no mandate to launch diplomatic negotiations with the PA because it "has long since lost the public's trust."

A "Peace Index" poll published by two Tel Aviv University professors on Sunday showed that 72 percent of the public does not trust Prime Minister Olmert to conduct negotiations for a comprehensive solution of the conflict with the PA.