Israeli PM Netanyahu at his weekly cabinet meeting. Photo: Screenshot.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent sympathetic statements about the Holocaust citing the PA’s recent moves to unite with terror group Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction.

“Hamas denies the Holocaust even as it attempts to create an additional Holocaust by destroying the State of Israel. It is with this Hamas that Abu Mazen chose to form an alliance last week,” Netanyahu told ministers at his government’s weekly cabinet meeting. “Instead of issuing statements designed to placate global public opinion, Abu Mazen needs to choose between the alliance with Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel and denies the Holocaust, and a true peace with Israel.”

The prime minister’s comments came shortly after Palestinian Arab news agencies reported that Abbas called the Holocaust “the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era” during a meeting with a U.S. rabbi. Additionally, he expressed his “sympathy with the families of the victims and many other innocent people who were killed by the Nazis.” He also drew a parallel between Jewish suffering at the hands of the Nazis and the current plight of Palestinian Arabs.

The prime minister also tied the PA to Iran through its new alliance with Hamas, telling ministers on Sunday that Iran “tops the list” of Israel’s enemies and has “declared its intention to destroy” the Jewish state. He added that aside from its efforts to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the Islamic Republic also arms, finances and trains Hamas militants on Israel’s borders.

Abbas’ remarks were times to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed by Israel on Sunday, where the Jewish state will honor the memory of the Shoah’s six million victims.

Speaking about Jews then and now, Netanyahu said: “The main difference between the helplessness of the Jews during the Holocaust and the situation of the Jews today is that today we have a strong, sovereign state with a strong military that can defend us against those who seek our lives.”