Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of "distorting known and well-documented historical facts" following the latter's op-ed in the New York Times.
In his article, Abbas addressed the Palestinians' UN bid for statehood and noted that the last time the Palestinian issue took center stage at the General Assembly was in 1947, with the decision to divide Palestine.
"Shortly thereafter, Zionist forces expelled Palestinian Arabs to ensure a decisive Jewish majority in the future state of Israel," Abbas said.
Netanyahu said in response that the Palestinians were the ones to reject the Partition Plan, while the Jews agreed to it.
"Arab armies assisted by Palestinian forces were those who attacked the Jewish state with the aim of destroying it. There is no mention of this in the article."
"One can deduce that the Palestinian leadership views the establishment of the Palestinian state as a means to continue the conflict rather than end it."