Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at new Iranian President Hassan Rowhani on Sunday, saying that he shared his hardline predecessor's aim of destroying the Jewish state.

"The president of Iran said the day before yesterday (Friday) that Israel is a wound on the body of Islam," Netanyahu's office quoted him as saying at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for their leadership in agreeing to resume peace talks, the White House said.

In separate statements with very similar wording following phone calls with the two men, Obama praised their "leadership and courage" in sending negotiators back to the table this week in Washington for the first time in three years.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday hailed new U.S. sanctions over Iran's nuclear program, approved ahead of the new Iranian president's inauguration.

"Following the Iranian elections the (U.S.) House of Representatives has sent a clear message to the Iranian regime that international pressure will increase until Iran... ceases its pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability," Netanyahu said in a statement.

As senior Israeli and Palestinian envoys resumed long-stalled peace talks in Washington, Israeli media questioned the motives of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in taking to the negotiating table.

Israeli and Palestinian officials were meeting Tuesday in Washington for a second day of direct talks -- their first in three years. The State Department said they would continue for at least nine months.

The Israeli government on Sunday approved the contentious release of long-serving Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners, to coincide with the resumption of peace talks, public radio said.

It said that the 22-member cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal by 13 votes to seven with two abstentions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel will free 104 Palestinian prisoners to coincide with the resumption of long-stalled peace talks brokered by the United States.

"I agreed to free 104 Palestinians in stages, after the start of negotiations and according to progress," he wrote on his official Facebook page.

Israeli President Shimon Peres considered that attempts to differentiate between Hizbullah's military wing and political party is plain “hypocrisy,” calling on the European Union to place Hizbullah as a whole on the list of terrorist organizations.

Peres wondered in an interview with al-Hurra TV on Thursday night if Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallh is a politician or a military man.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday urged greater pressure on Iran over its nuclear program as he met Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Jerusalem.

"I think we need to increase the pressure on Iran. Only by doing this will there be real changes in the attitude of that country," Netanyahu's office was quoted him as saying at the meeting.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour expressed concern on Wednesday that each European country might deal with the EU's decision over blacklisting Hizbullah as it sees fit and from it's own political view.

“This will have a negative impact on the visas and the transportation of people and financial transactions,” Mansour said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned ministers Sunday that renewed peace talks with the Palestinians will be tough, and said any draft treaty would be put to a referendum.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday said Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had agreed to meet to prepare a resumption of direct peace talks, stalled since 2010.