Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin NetanyahuYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday evening blasted the Fatah movement for electing Marwan Barghouti to the top spot on the Fatah Central Committee.

"This is the leader of a terrorist organization who encouraged and led terrorist attacks that killed and wounded dozens of innocent Israelis. Barghouti was convicted for his crimes in an Israeli court and sentenced to five life sentences. In electing Barghouti, the Fatah movement radicalizes the culture of incitement and terror, and condones a convicted terrorist,” said Netanyahu.

He added, "Fatah is no longer satisfied with incitement in schools and naming streets and squares after murderers. Now it also places them in leadership roles. By doing this, the organization radicalizes the culture of hatred and distances peace."

Barghouti is widely believed to have planned the Second Intifada, which claimed thousands of Israeli lives from 2000 to 2005. He has continued inciting terrorism from his jail cell.

His election to the Fatah Central Committee came during the Fatah congress, which was held in Ramallah in recent days and was attended by representatives of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups. They were invited directly by Fatah, despite the fact that Abbas is called a "moderate" by most of the Western world, while Hamas and Islamic Jihad openly call for the destruction of the state of Israel.

Addressing the congress last week, Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas launched a tirade against Israel, reiterating that Palestinian Arabs will continue to refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and that the PA would continue its efforts to approve a Security Council resolution against “Israeli settlements”.