In a contentious interview with Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer on Friday, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell fretted over Israeli police killing knife-wielding Palestinian terrorists: “What about the possibility of excessive force?”

Dermer responded: “Andrea, if someone was coming at you with a knife, would you want the police officer to take out a knife and to try to stop him or would you want that police officer to shoot that person before he would attack you?” Mitchell proclaimed: “Not shoot to kill.”

She then declared that Israel was “...losing the war on social media because these videos [of the police shootings] – sometimes taken out of context, I'll grant you – are going viral throughout the world.” Mitchell warned: “You are potentially inciting more violence because of these incidents and the way they are being perceived.”

Dermer shot back: “We are losing the war of lies. We are winning the war of truth.”

On Thursday, correspondent Peter Alexander filled in for Mitchell on her MSNBC show and also grilled Dermer, demanding Israel find “middle ground” with the terrorist killers.

Minutes after Mitchell played the clip of her interview with Dermer on Friday, veteran NBC war correspondent Martin Fletcher observed:

There’s only a growth of frustration among the Palestinians and a growth of Israeli frustration with the world because Israel believes it's doing its best to control this surge of violence in as fair a way as possible. And as you mentioned earlier, you know, this is on social media. Israel is losing the perception war in social media, even though it is trying to keep the number of casualties down. That is always the case. Israel's story is very hard to tell, whereas the Palestinian story is much easier to tell.

Here is are excerpts of the October 16 Andrea Mitchell Reports: