Israel has lashed out at Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for meeting a former woman prisoner who lured an Israeli teen to his death, accusing him of "putting murderers on a pedestal."

Palestinian Amna Muna was sentenced to life behind bars for seducing a teenage boy through an Internet chatroom who was later shot dead by militants in 2001, but was freed in October under terms of a prisoner swap deal.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir on Tuesday visited Israel for the first time for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, a diplomatic source told Agence France Presse.

"This is a working visit of just one day," he said, indicating Kiir would also meet President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Unidentified assailants torched three cars in the West Bank village of Beitin, north of Ramallah, early Monday, police said, in a possible revenge attack by extremist Jews.

"Police are searching for the suspects -- it's not clear exactly who was behind it -- and the investigation continues," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Agence France Presse.

Israeli commentators said on Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to crack down on a growing tide of settler violence appeared to be too little too late.

Police and army officers told the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper there was "only a small chance the latest steps will fundamentally change the state of law enforcement in the territories".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Africa to discuss illegal migration from the continent to the Jewish state, he said on Sunday, as his cabinet approved new measures to combat the problem.

Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting to approve ways to deal with an influx of illegal migrants, Netanyahu announced "I intend to travel to Africa later to discuss and advance procedures for returning them (migrants) to Africa."

The Palestinian premier on Saturday slammed U.S. presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich for belittling the Palestinians as an "invented" people and demanded an apology.

Gingrich, leading in some national polls for the Republican Party nomination, made the comments in a Friday interview to be aired with the Jewish Channel satellite television.

Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney on Tuesday blasted President Barack Obama's approach to Israel, charging he has "immeasurably" damaged Middle East peace prospects and failed to confront Iran.

The former Massachusetts governor, in excerpts of a speech to be delivered on Wednesday to the Republican Jewish Coalition, also declared Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "should be indicted for the crime of incitement to genocide."

Israel is to resume transferring millions of dollars in customs duties to the Palestinian Authority, public radio said Wednesday, but the prime minister's office said no decision had yet been taken.

Public radio reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's so-called Forum of Eight senior ministers had voted in favor of resuming the transfers, nearly a month after it froze them over Palestine's admission to UNESCO.

Israel is considering releasing tax money it has been withholding from the Palestinian Authority in response to their bid for UNESCO membership, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

Israel on November 1 announced it was freezing the transfer of the tax and tariff funds it collects on behalf of the Palestinians after they gained full UNESCO membership despite Israeli and U.S. objections.

Israel warned on Saturday that it would cut the supply of water and electricity to the Gaza Strip if rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas form a unity government.

"The foreign ministry is examining the possibility of Israel pulling out of the Gaza Strip in terms of infrastructure," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told the daily Yediot Aharonot website.