Mahmoud Abbas: The 'social behavior' of the Jews caused the Holocaust

Abbas shared a “history lesson” during a session of the Palestinian National Council where he addressed several anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, according to the Times of Israel . He argued that Jews did not have a connection to Israel, pointing to a theory that Ashkenazi Jews bear no relation to ancient Jews.

Abbas then attributed the Holocaust to the Jews’ “social behavior, [charging] interest, and financial matters,” not anti-Semitism.

Abbas also said that Palestine would not accept any efforts from the U.S. to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

“This is completely unacceptable,” he said. “We will not accept this deal, and we will not accept the U.S. as the sole broker.”

The comments come after the U.S. announced late last year that the the U.S. would officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and would move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.