Kerry Says Comments By Israeli Defense Minister Won't Deter Work on Peace Deal

Moshe Yaalon called the U.S. secretary of state "messianic"

(Reuters)—U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday he would not let criticism of his Middle East peace efforts attributed to Israel's defense minister deter him from trying to achieve a framework Israeli-Palestinian deal.

"We just can't let one set of comments undermine that effort, and I don't intend to," Kerry told a news conference in Kuwait, where he was attending a donors' conference for Syria.

Israel's hawkish defense chief, Moshe Yaalon, was quoted by an Israeli newspaper on Tuesday as calling Kerry's efforts "messianic," and dismissing a U.S.-proposed security plan for the occupied West Bank.