By DANIEL ESTRIN | AP

Published: Dec 11, 2011 12:09 Updated: Dec 11, 2011 12:09

DES MOINES, Iowa: Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is defending his statement that the Palestinians are an “invented people,” brushing aside criticism that he had unnecessarily made the Mideast peace process more difficult.

“Is what I said factually true? Yes,” Gingrich said Saturday during a candidate debate in which he drew applause for asserting that it was time someone spoke the truth about the nature of Israel’s struggle with the Palestinians.

“Somebody ought to have the courage to tell the truth. These people are terrorists,” he said. “It’s fundamentally time for somebody to have the guts to stand up and say, ‘Enough lying about the Middle East.’”

Gingrich’s remarks to a cable channel the day before struck at the heart of Palestinian sensitivities about the righteousness of their struggle for an independent state and put him at odds not only with the international community but with many in Israel. Mainstream Israelis, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, support the idea of an independent Palestine alongside Israel as part of a final peace agreement.

Before the debate, Gingrich told a veterans’ forum that he supports a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians that includes two separate states.

The burden to show a willingness to reach a peace accord with the Israelis lies squarely with the Palestinians, he said.

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