Israel's Avigdor Lieberman Slams Europe for 'Pro-Palestine' Bias

Israel's foreign minister has summoned European ambassadors from four countries to protest against what he says is bias towards the Palestinian side.

French, British, Spanish and Italian diplomats were called in and told that their "one-sided" stance against Israel is "unacceptable".

"Beyond being biased, unbalanced and ignoring the reality on the ground, the positions held by these states significantly harm the possibility of reaching some sort of agreement between the sides," Avigdor Lieberman's office said.

His call came after the four European countries summoned Israeli ambassadors to protest after 1,400 new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem were announced.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move "hypocritical".

The UN, meanwhile, has denounced the increase in the number of so-called price tag attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. The number of attacks has gone up every year for the past eight years.

Since 2006, 2,100 attacks have been perpetrated by Jewish colonists. In 2006, there were 115 attacks, rising to 399 in 2013.

The UN reported that more than 17,000 Palestinians, 342 settlers and 37 soldiers have been injured in price tag attacks. Ten Palestinians and 29 settlers were killed in attacks in the West Bank.