Ahead of his trip to Germany, Netanyahu voiced disappointment that Berlin abstained in the UN vote, a move that raised tensions between the close allies.
"I think Chancellor (Angela) Merkel was of the opinion that this vote would in some way foster peace," Netanyahu said in an interview to be published in
Thursday's edition of Die Welt. "In fact the opposite is the case: after the UN vote, the Palestinian Authority under president (Mahmud) Abbas is making plans to join with the terrorists of Hamas."
"In spite of the good intentions behind the German abstention, I believe that the opposite effect was achieved. It set back the cause of peace," he
said. It "emboldened" the Palestinians to harden their position and to shun talks, he added.