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.