PA President Mahmoud Abbas waves with released Palestinian prisoners. Photo: Issam Rimawi/FLASH90.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu strongly criticized the jubilant reception showered upon released terrorists by the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday. His remarks were made at the 7th Galilee Conference in Tiberias.

“Murderers are not heroes,” Netanayhu said. “This is not how one educates for peace. Peace can exist only when the education toward incitement and the destruction of Israel stops.”

“The essence of the difference between us and our neighbors may be seen in one picture. While we are prepared to take very painful steps in an effort to try and reach an agreement that would put an end to the conflict, they, along with their highest leadership, are celebrating,” the Prime Minister said.

Earlier, an official spokesperson of the Prime Minister addressed the issue of the Palestinian Authority’s glorification of terrorists, issuing a strongly worded condemnation on Twitter, Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported.

“The Palestinian Authority must stop celebrating terrorism,” Netanyahu’s spokesman Ofir Gendelman wrote in a tweet aimed directly at Arab media outlets, Ma’ariv said.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Israel released 26 Palestinian convicts, the third of four planned terrorist discharges that are meant to serve as confidence-building measures between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

18 of the prisoners were released to Ramallah, the current seat of the Palestinian Authority government. Thousands of local Arabs, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other officials of the PA, lined up to kiss and embrace the newly freed prisoners.