Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “disappointment” on Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech to the UN General Assembly, during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Netanyahu, who sat down for an interview with host David Gregory, stated both that he was “try to move forward” the peace process through negotiations, and that the “core of the conflict” lies with the Palestinians’ persistent “refusal to accept Israel’s existence.”

When asked about threats facing Israel, Netanyahu answered that he is responsible for the “fate of one and the only Jewish state”, and he seeks to “erect the wall against insatiable crocodile of Islamism, before it devours us for breakfast.”

Netanyahu further rebuffed several Republican presidential contenders’ claims that Obama is “throwing Israel under the bus” by saying that America supports Israel in “unprecedented ways” and that this support is “expressed by any person who happens to be in the White House”.

Netanyahu also commented on former President Clinton’s claim that Netanyahu is not interested in peace, telling Gregory that President Bush knows well “how the Palestinian leaders moved away from the Israeli Prime ministers proposals. They didn’t come, and now they go to the UN”.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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