Washington, January 15 (RHC)-- The United States has lashed out at Israeli Minister of Military Affairs Moshe Ya'alon for making “offensive and inappropriate” comments about U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Israeli media reported earlier that during a meeting behind closed doors Ya'alon called Kerry’s efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace “messianic and obsessive.”
In a strong response on Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the remarks are "offensive and inappropriate especially given all that the U.S. is doing to support Israel's security needs." The State Department spokesman said: "To question Kerry's motives and distort his proposals is not something we would expect from the defense minister of a close ally."
According to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli minister said that 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." Ya'alon was quoted as saying: "The only thing that can save us is if Kerry wins the Nobel Prize and leaves us alone."
Earlier this month, Kerry arrived in Tel Aviv and immediately headed for Jerusalem to broker negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses the Palestinian leaders of not being committed to negotiations.
However, Palestinian authorities say that Israel’s refusal to stop building settlements in the occupied territories is one of the stumbling blocks to the U.S.-brokered direct talks.
