Israel's Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon apologized Tuesday to US Secretary of State John Kerry after he accused the American of having an "obsession" with Middle East peace, sparking a furious diplomatic row between the two allies.

Kerry on Wednesday downplayed the impact of Yaalon's comments, saying he will not allow the slur to affect peace efforts.

"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.

The White House had described Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon's initial comments as "offensive," in a mark of the degree of outrage in Washington at the latest public spat between the two countries, which follows a major row over Iran policy.

However, in a statement, a contrite Yaalon said, "Israel and the United States share a common goal to advance the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians led by Secretary Kerry.

"We appreciate Secretary Kerry's many efforts toward that end."

"The defense minister had no intention to cause any offence to the secretary, and he apologizes if the secretary was offended by words attributed to the minister."

In private conversations with Israeli and American officials, revealed by the top-selling Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, Yaalon was quoted as expressing the hope that Kerry, who has made 10 trips to Israel since March, would end his peace push and focus his energies elsewhere.

"The American plan for security arrangements that was shown to us isn't worth the paper it was written on," Yaalon was quoted as saying, accusing Kerry of being naive.

AFP - Reuters