An Arab stabbed and seriously wounded an Israeli man in Jerusalem on Thursday before being arrested, police said, the latest in a spate of knife attacks on Israelis.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the 25-year-old victim was in a serious condition after the attack near one of Jerusalem's main thoroughfares.

There has been a series of knife attacks by Palestinians on Israelis in recent days as rioting has spread across annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.