JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister condemned a condolence letter sent by Mahmoud Abbas to the Palestinian man who shot a Temple Mount activist, who Abbas called a “martyr.”

Muataz Hijazi “will go to heaven as a martyr defending the rights of our people and its holy places,” Abbas wrote in the condolence letter sent Saturday to Hijazi’s family.

Hijazi is alleged to have shot activist Yehuda Glick three times in the chest and abdomen outside of the Begin Center in Jerusalem after Glick addressed a conference on Jewish rights on the Temple Mount. Hijazi and an alleged accomplice both worked at the Begin Center’s restaurant.

Glick remains in serious condition and on a respirator at Shaarey Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he underwent a third surgery on Monday.

“When we are trying to calm the situation, Abu Mazen sends condolences over the death of one who tried to perpetrate a reprehensible murder. The time has come for the international community to condemn him for such actions,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued Saturday night.

Abbas letter shows he is “a partner for terror, a partner to terrorists, a partner of murderers,” Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said in a Facebook post.

Abbas’ letter amounts to “open support for terror and encouragement of further murders,” he wrote.