THE United States' top military officer will visit Israel today to meet with the defence minister who has angered Washington by criticising its strategies in the Middle East and Ukraine.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon in Jerusalem. The US State Department has said it is disappointed he has not apologised for remarks ridiculing Secretary of State John Kerry's push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, and saying the US handling of the Ukraine crisis projected weakness.