Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman recently to discuss violence in Syria and the country's chemical weapons stock, Israeli media said Thursday.

Public radio, as well as several local newspapers, said Israeli and Jordanian officials had confirmed the meeting, which was first reported in the al-Quds al-Arabi daily on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday welcomed the nomination of Senator John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as U.S. secretary of state, calling him a well-known defender of Israeli security.

"I congratulate John Kerry on his nomination to the post of American secretary of state. Kerry, who has great experience, is a well-known defender of the security of Israel," he said in a statement issued by his office.

Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, tendered his official resignation on Sunday over fraud and breach of trust charges filed against him.

Lieberman's resignation goes into effect Tuesday. He said he hopes to take "the briefest possible leave."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rightwing bloc was seen as retaining its strong lead over its rivals in January 22 snap elections, according to polls published on Friday.

Top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily predicted that the joint list of Netanyahu's Likud party and the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman would win 35 of the 120 seats in parliament, compared with 37 predicted by the paper two weeks ago.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday scoffed at international criticism of his plans to build settler housing on occupied land east of Jerusalem.

Speaking to foreign journalists, he compared the E1 plan to build between largely Arab east Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumin, to the accepted goal of a Palestinian state embracing the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

With a snap election looming next month, the Israeli government and opposition traded barbs on Sunday over Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal's landmark weekend visit to Gaza.

The Hamas leader-in-exile's first-ever visit to the territory, during which he gave a speech pledging the movement would not cede "an inch" of historic Palestine, prompted anger in Israel and political recriminations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday Israel is closely tracking developments relating to chemical weapons in Syria, whose regime has been warned against using them in the country's uprising.

"Along with the international community, we are closely following developments in Syria related to its chemical weapons stockpiles," Netanyahu said in a statement from his office.

Germany said Monday it was "deeply concerned" about Israeli plans for new settlements but would not "for the moment" summon its ambassador to Berlin.

Ahead of talks this week between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert called on Israel to withdraw its plan to build new Jewish settler homes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday downplayed a Palestinian attempt to secure upgraded status at the United Nations, saying it won't help them achieve their long-promised state.

"The decision at the United Nations today won't change anything on the ground," Netanyahu said at a ceremony in Jerusalem. "It won't promote the establishment of a Palestinian state, it will distance it.

Israel's former foreign minister Tzipi Livni announced her return to politics on Tuesday at the helm of a new party called The Movement, nearly seven months after stepping aside following a primary defeat.

"I have decided to return to politics... and to create a political party that I have named 'The Movement'," she told a press conference in Tel Aviv eight weeks before snap elections on January 22.