In the midst of ongoing protests and violence surrounding the publication of disparaging cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, the Palestinian Authority envoy to Washington stated that Israel's Likud party was behind the scandal.
Afif Safieh claimed on Sunday in a television debate broadcast by CNN that Likud party had conspired to widen the rift between the mostly Christian west and the Muslim world by distributed the cartoons.
The show's host then asked Safieh if he was serious or joking, according to Ynet.
The debate featured Safieh, Israel's Ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon, as well as Egypt’s Ambassador to the US, Nabil Fahmy.
Safieh explained that the newspaper's editor is a fan of the right-wing Jewish columnist Daniel Pipes, and that he and Pipes collaborated in distributing the images.
Ayalon responded that such talk was "nonsense," and added that he was particularly concerned about the reactions to the cartoons, such as the torching of embassies and injury to people.
