General David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, told a Senate hearing that Israeli-Palestinian tensions "present distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests" in the region.

"The conflict foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of US favoritism for Israel," Petraeus said in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of US partnerships with governments and peoples" in the region "and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world," said the general, who oversees US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia.

He also said Al-Qaeda and other militant groups sought to "exploit" Arab anger over the issue and that the conflict "gives Iran influence in the Arab world" through its "clients" Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

His comments came after an irate reaction last week from Washington over Israel's plans to build 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, announced during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden.

Top officials in President Barack Obama's administration, including Biden, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior advisor David Axelrod, have slammed the new construction and the timing of the announcement as insulting and destructive.

A report on Saturday on the Foreign Policy website said Petraeus was increasingly concerned over the lack of progress in resolving the Mideast conflict and that his aides had recently given a pessimistic briefing to the top-ranking US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, on the issue.

Citing unnamed officials, the report said the briefing concluded that Israel's stance on the conflict was jeopardizing Washington's standing in the region and that Arab leaders were concerned that the United States was "incapable of standing up to Israel."

Defense officials confirmed that Petraeus's aides had briefed Mullen in January on Arab perceptions and doubts about US policy.

Pentagon officials declined to discuss the briefing in detail, but rejected the report's portrayal of a visit to Israel by Admiral Mullen last month.

The officials said Mullen did not carry a stern message from the White House to his Israeli counterpart, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, that Israel needed to see the Mideast conflict in a "larger" context.

"It's absolutely inaccurate to describe his visit to Israel as some sort of message delivery mission," said one official.

The meeting had been organized months in advance as part of a tour of the region, with much of the focus on the threat posed by Iran, the official said.

Mullen was not "pushing them (Israelis) in any direction or another," the official said.

But a theme that came up in Mullen's meetings was that there was a clear link between the Mideast conflict and Iran's role in the region, he said.

Mullen was told that "in order to deal with Iran's growing ambitions, you've got to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process," the official said.

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