Palestinians' Abbas disavows Jewish poisoning plot comments

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has disavowed comments he made this week about an alleged plot by rabbis calling on Jewish settlers to poison the drinking water of Palestinians.

In a fiery speech to the European Union in Brussels, Abbas repeated unsubstantiated claims of a plot to poison Palestinian wells, sparking accusations of anti-Semitism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abbas showed his “true face” by spreading such a “blood libel” and called on him to cease inciting against Israel.

On Saturday, Abbas’ office acknowledged that his comments were “baseless.” Abbas rejected the anti-Semitic accusations leveled against him and said he “didn’t intend to do harm to Judaism or to offend Jewish people around the world.”