GOP candidate Newt Gingrich. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Government officials have called the remarks "ignorant," "despicable" and "ridiculous," according to a report by ABC News.

The presidential hopeful, who has surged in recent polls, made his claim under the reasoning that there had never been a state of Palestine.

“I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs, and who were historically part of the Arab community," he said in an interview Friday with The Jewish Channel, a U.S. cable network. “And they had a chance to go many places, and for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940s, and it’s tragic.”

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad suggested Gingrich should "review history" in his response via Palestinian news agency Wafa. "This, certainly," he said of the former house speaker's comment, "is denying historical truths."

Fellow Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said in a debate Saturday night that Gingrich made a mistake with his comments, suggesting that Gingrich needs to be more cautious with comments that might cause "tumult."

Yet, Gingrich stuck with his words.

"It's time for someone to stand up and say, 'enough lying about the Middle East,'" Gingrich said in the ABC/The Des Moines Register debate in Ioaw.

Saeb Erakat, a top Palestinian negotiator who has been involved in talks between Israel and the U.S., said Gingrich's comments were evidence of "how really despicable things can get" in American politics. According to CNN, Erakat called it "the most racist statement I've ever seen."

Gingrich's camp said earlier Saturday that the candidate is standing by his remarks.

"Gingrich supports a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, which will necessarily include agreement between Israel and the Palestinians over the borders of a Palestinian state," spokesman R.C. Hammond said. "However, to understand what is being proposed and negotiated you have to understand decades of complex history, which is exactly what Gingrich was referencing during the recent interview with Jewish TV."

Hammond's statement did not include an apology.

It's unclear what effect Gingrich's comments will have on Saturday night's debate in Iowa. According to the Christian Science Monitor, his interview performance could be a political move to win the Jewish vote.

From the Monitor's report:

In recent days, the Republican presidential hopefuls have gone out of their way to express support for Israel. The one exception has been Ron Paul, who says he would zero out all US foreign aid, including Israel’s.

In his interview Friday, Gingrich seemed to take that another significant step in the direction of Israel.

“If we can get to a point where I'm satisfied that there's no national security threat, and if he's in fact served within the range of people who've had a similar problem, then I'd be inclined to consider clemency,” Gingrich said.

But other GOP candidates are taking this as an opportunity to move ahead of the frontrunner.

Politico blogged Saturday about Rick Santorum's response to the gaffe during a pre-debate appearance.

…per POLITICO's Ginger Gibson:

Taking questions from the three reporters who attended the event, Santorum carefully responded to Newt Gingrich's recent remarks that Palestinians are an "invented people."

Santorum has hardly been dovish, and his remarks illustrate the extent to which Gingrich's rivals see an opening over his comments aired Friday in advance of the anticipated slugfest at Drake University tonight.

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