Israel's attorney general has ordered an inquiry into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spending, a justice ministry official said on Tuesday, amid reports of alleged misuse of public funds.

Netanyahu and his wife Sara came under the spotlight ahead of his reelection in March over her alleged pocketing of public cash by collecting deposits on empty bottles, and payment for maintenance at their private residence.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to try to ease tensions over the Iran nuclear deal, as the Israeli leader urged lawmakers in Washington to reject the hard-won agreement.

The two men greeted each other with a long handshake before entering the meeting that lasted nearly two hours, making no comment about the tensions over the nuclear accord that Netanyahu has harshly condemned.

On a hilltop lookout near Israel's border with Lebanon, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter offered personal assurances Monday that the U.S. will help Israel counter Iranian support for Hizbullah. He called it one example of how the U.S. can support the Jewish state in the aftermath of the Iran nuclear deal.

Carter visited Hussein Lookout, with a sweeping view of the border as well as the Golan Heights, in an effort to emphasize U.S. concern about a range of threats that face Israel. These include tens of thousands of short-, medium- and longer-range Hizbullah rockets and missiles in southern Lebanon that could hit Israeli villages and cities.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited Israel on Monday in a bid to ease concerns over the nuclear deal with Iran, signaling Washington was ready to boost military cooperation with the Jewish state.

Israel was Carter's first stop on a regional tour following last week's historic agreement between Iran and world powers, underlining the importance of the relationship between the two countries despite frictions over the accord.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Thursday sought to reassure Israel over a nuclear deal between major powers and Iran, saying "robust measures" were in place to ensure its success.

Israel has long opposed any deal with its arch-foe Iran, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted the landmark agreement struck Tuesday between Tehran and six world powers as a "historic mistake."

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he was heading to Israel later Wednesday to explain the Iran nuclear deal in person and voiced hope Britain could reopen its embassy in Tehran this year.

Briefing parliament about the agreement unveiled on Tuesday, Hammond said he would speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday "to convey our message about this deal directly".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suffered a major defeat in failing to stop a nuclear deal with Iran but he remains as defiant as ever even at the risk of further isolation.

While the world's major powers welcomed the deal finalized with Iran on Tuesday as a historic moment capable of setting relations with the Islamic republic on a new path, Netanyahu harshly condemned it.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday after world powers reached a historic nuclear deal with Iran that Israel was not bound by it and signaled he remained ready to order military action.

Netanyahu's harsh criticism of the agreement came after he warned for months that the deal being negotiated would not prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Major powers clinched a historic deal Tuesday aimed at ensuring Iran does not obtain the nuclear bomb, opening up Tehran's stricken economy and potentially ending decades of bad blood with the West.

Reached on day 18 of marathon talks in Vienna, the accord is aimed at resolving a 13-year standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions after repeated diplomatic failures and threats of military action.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sought to calm angry U.S. Jews after his religious affairs minister questioned the Jewishness of the Reform movement, to which many of them belong.

"Israel is a home for all Jews," he said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.