Israel's UN ambassador calls Palestinian leader's speech 'lies'
Israel's UN ambassador says Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' speech at the General Assembly "spread falsehoods" that "encourage hate."
Ambassador Danny Danon issued a statement after the Palestinian Authority president spoke Wednesday about the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Abbas said Israel is jeopardizing the two-state solution by continuing to expand its settlements on Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
He also warned Israel it would be like "playing with fire" to make any unilateral decisions about a site sacred to both Muslims and Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem. Tensions rose recently after Israel installed, then removed, metal detectors following the shooting of two Israeli police.
The Israeli ambassador says, in his words: "Today's lies and excuses have proven once again that the Palestinian leadership is a serial evader of peace."
