Former President Shimon Peres claimed in an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel that the Palestinian frustration over the freeze in peace talks is part of what's fueling the recent wave of terror attacks against Israelis.
The interview was published on Saturday, but conducted before Peres suffered a heart attack last week.
In it, the former president levels harsh criticism against the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and rejects the accusations that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is inciting to violence.
He said the extremists on the Jewish side are only a small group and that Israel was fighting Jewish terrorism, while at the same time expressed concern of the incitement against his successor, President Reuven Rivlin.
When confronted with the fact the current right-wing government was taking no steps towards a two state solution, Peres stated that "Governments are not elected for eternity.
