President Shimon Peres on Thursday distanced himself from the Israeli premier's comparison between the Holocaust and the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program.

"It's not the same thing," Peres told the Ynet website of Yediot Aharonot newspaper in an interview for Israel's Independence Day.

Israel's military chief toned down the rhetoric over Iran's nuclear program on Wednesday, describing the Iranian leadership as "very rational" and unlikely to take the decision to build a bomb.

Speaking to Haaretz newspaper, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz said Iran was approaching the point at which it would be able to decide on whether to build a bomb, but that Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had not yet decided "whether to go the extra mile."

Israel decided on Tuesday to legalese three settler outposts, which the Palestinians denounced as a response to a letter from president Mahmoud Abbas demanding a halt to settlement activity if peace talks are to resume.

A ministerial committee has decided "to formalize the status of three communities which were established in the 1990s," the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday received a letter from president Mahmoud Abbas about the moribund peace process, as he met in Jerusalem with two Palestinian officials, his office said.

The brief meeting was described by the Palestinians as "serious," with both sides saying Netanyahu would reply with his own letter to Abbas "within two weeks."

Iran has bought itself extra time during a first round of key talks with world powers over its disputed nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

"My initial impression is that Iran has been given a 'freebie'," Netanyahu said during talks with visiting U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, the premier's office reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet his Palestinian counterpart Salam Fayyad in Jerusalem next week, a spokesman from the Israeli leader's office told Agence France Presse.

A Palestinian official had on Tuesday said the two men would meet on April 17, and on Wednesday, Netanyahu's spokesman Ofir Gendelman confirmed the date.

The Israeli army found an unexploded rocket near Eilat, two days after another rocket fired from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula hit the southern resort city, a military spokesman told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

"An unexploded rocket was found in an open area near Eilat," the spokesman said, noting that it was a Grad-type rocket. "It appears to be an additional rocket from the Thursday incident, bringing the total confirmed rockets fired to two."

Jordan has nudged Israeli and Palestinian negotiators back to discussions on the peace process, a government official said on Thursday, adding that the two sides had met in Amman during the night.

"Israeli and Palestinian officials met last night in Amman for discussions," the official told Agence France Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek to legalize three settler outposts established illegally in the West Bank, he told his government on Wednesday.

"It is my intention to bring to the government in the near future a recommendation from the defense minister, and the necessary permissions, for regulating the status of the communities of Bruchin, Sansana and Rekhelim," he said.

Israeli forces on Wednesday began evicting a group of settlers from a disputed house in the West Bank city of Hebron, a day after they were ordered to leave the property, police said.

"The security forces are evacuating the house at this moment," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.