Netanyahu Accuses Palestine's Abbas of Inciting Anti-Israeli Attacks

Anti-Israeli attacks are "driven directly" by the Hamas organization and Palestine, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the United States on Thursday for condemning recent attacks against Israelis and accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting the violence.

On Thursday, Netanyahu met with US State Secretary John Kerry in Berlin to discuss the current wave of violence in the decades-long regional conflict between Palestinians and Israeli security forces that began at East Jerusalem’s Temple Mount holy site in September, with dozens of people killed.

"I want to thank you and the US for condemning the terrorist attacks against Israel, for standing up for our right of self defense," the prime minister told Kerry, as quoted by The Jerusalem Post newspaper.

According to the prime minister, the attacks are "driven directly" by the Hamas organization and Palestine. "It’s time that the international community told President Abbas to stop the incitement and hold him accountable for his words and his deeds," Netanyahu said.

Palestinians seek the recognition of their independent state, proclaimed in 1988, on the territories of West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

Most of the areas claimed by the State of Palestine were seized by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity.