OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – Israel's defense minister called US Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace messianic, a newspaper said on Tuesday, reporting what it described as remarks made behind closed doors. Moshe Yaalon's spokesman declined comment on the account in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper. “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,” Yaalon was quoted as saying. The report appeared hours after US Vice President Joe Biden left Israel, where he attended the funeral of former leader Ariel Sharon and held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yedioth said Yaalon voiced his comments in private conversations before one of Kerry's recent mediation visits to the region, but gave no specific date. 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 only thing that can save us is if Kerry wins the Nobel prize and leaves us alone,” Yaalon was quoted as saying. — Reuters
