Israeli defence chief Moshe Yaalon's comments on John Kerry draw US rebuke Determined: US Secretary of State John Kerry has been on a diplomatic blitz in recent weeks. Jerusalem: Israel's hawkish defence minister drew rare US condemnation on Tuesday over reports he had denounced US Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, already at odds with Washington over settlement building on land Palestinians want for a state, scrambled to try to avoid a damaging crisis with his country's closest ally over defence chief Moshe Yaalon's remarks. "Secretary of State John Kerry - who has come to us determined and is acting out of an incomprehensible obsession and a messianic feeling - cannot teach me a single thing about the conflict with the Palestinians," the biggest-selling daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Mr Yaalon as saying behind closed doors. The only thing that can save us is if Kerry wins the Nobel prize and leaves us alone. Mr Kerry has been on a diplomatic blitz in recent weeks to persuade Israel and the Palestinians, who resumed statehood talks in July after a three-year deadlock, to agree on an outline proposal addressing the core issues of their conflict. The US response was swift. "To question Secretary Kerry's motives and distort his proposals is not something we would expect from the defence minister of a close ally," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. Earlier, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that if accurate, Mr Yaalon's remarks were "offensive and inappropriate, especially given all that the United States is doing to support Israel's security needs." Responding to the Yedioth report with a written statement, Mr Yaalon - who stopped short of denying he had made the personal attack on Mr Kerry in private conversations - described Washington as an ally of utmost importance. "When there are disagreements, we work through them inside the room - including with Secretary of State Kerry, with whom I hold many conversations about Israel's future," he said. The acrimony comes at a delicate time in peace negotiations that have shown little sign of progress. Mr Kerry, who made his 10th visit to Jerusalem last week in less than a year, has been pushing both sides to agree to at least a preliminary deal. But in parliament on Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu appeared to take Mr Yaalon, a member of his right-wing Likud party, to task, extolling Israel's shared interests with "our great ally" in Washington. "Even when we have disagreements with the United States, they always pertain to the matter at hand, and are not personal," Mr Netanyahu said. Mr Yaalon has often cast doubt on the chances of reaching a deal with the Palestinians and he has been a strong supporter of settlement building. As Israel's military chief, he was replaced in that post before its 2005 Gaza pullout, a move he opposed. Gaza is now governed by Hamas Islamists opposed to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's engagement with the Jewish state. Abbas holds sway in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. One of the sticking points in the negotiations has been Israel's demand to maintain a military presence under any future peace deal in the Jordan Valley, between Jordan and the West Bank. Mr Kerry has presented the sides with ideas for security arrangements in the Jordan Valley. Neither has publicly endorsed them. According to Yedioth, Mr Yaalon said: "The American security plan is not worth the paper it is written on." The State Department spokeswoman challenged Mr Yaalon on the issue. "Secretary Kerry and his team ... have been working day and night to try to promote a secure peace for Israel because of the Secretary's deep concern for Israel's future," she said. The dispute erupted a day after the US media published excerpts from a memoir by former US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in which he said he had tried to get Mr Netanyahu barred from the White House, accusing him of being arrogant and ungrateful.