Jordan said Monday it had no immediate plans to push for a vote on a U.N. Security Council resolution to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories despite Palestinian statements that the move was imminent.

Jordan's U.N. Ambassador said she was awaiting the outcome of meetings that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is having with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and European governments on the next step at the United Nations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday angrily rejected a Palestinian bid to set a U.N. deadline for an end to Israel's occupation amid a flurry of talks led by U.S. top diplomat John Kerry.

"We will not accept attempts to dictate to us unilateral moves on a limited timetable," the Israeli leader said before flying to Italy.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Rome on Sunday for a flurry of meetings about a looming showdown at the United Nations amid a European-led drive to push moves towards Palestinian statehood.

U.S. officials told reporters accompanying Kerry on his plane that Washington wanted to learn more about the European position, saying the U.S. administration had not yet decided whether to back or veto any U.N. resolution on the issue.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will head to Rome on Sunday for a surprise meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his spokeswoman said.

"They will discuss a number of issues, including recent developments in Israel, the West Bank, and Jerusalem and the region," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement Wednesday.

Israel had a critical role in stopping a deal with Iran on reining in its nuclear program from going ahead last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

The deal would have "effectively left Iran as a threshold nuclear power," he told a Washington think-tank in a recorded speech.

Israeli political leaders agreed Wednesday to hold a snap election next March, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambling on a return to power after his ruling coalition collapsed.

Parliament's spokesman said the vote would be held on March 17, after Netanyahu tore apart his fractious coalition government by firing two centrist ministers and calling for the early polls.

Israel's prime minister and defense minister announced on Saturday that the country's next military chief of staff will be Major General Gadi Eisenkot.

Eisenkot, currently deputy chief of staff, will replace Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, whose four-year term ends in February 2015.

A popular former minister in Israel has announced a comeback at the head of a new party amid speculation Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is about to call early elections.

Moshe Kahlon, who resigned as communications minister in October 2012, three months before the last general election, held a founding meeting attended by 350 supporters at a seaside hotel on Thursday night, media reported on Friday.

Israel's Shin Bet security service said Thursday it had uncovered a vast Hamas network in the West Bank that was planning large-scale attacks against Israelis in Jerusalem.

The Shin Bet said it arrested more than 30 Hamas militants who planned to kidnap Israelis and carry out attacks against Jerusalem's light rail and its largest soccer stadium, among other targets. It said the men were trained and recruited in Jordan and Turkey and that various arms and explosives were recovered.

Iran and world powers missed a Monday deadline to clinch a landmark nuclear deal and defuse a 12-year standoff but gave themselves seven more months to reach agreement.

The failure followed an intensive five-day diplomatic push in the Austrian capital Vienna involving the foreign ministers of Iran, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.