Defense Minister finished talks in Washington, DC, Thursday afternoon with Vice President Joe Biden and National Security Advisor Ton Donilon at the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department.

The meetings centered around a way to renew negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israel's relations with Turkey and the Middle East in general. During the meeting between Barak and Clinton, the need was also noted to strengthen the economy in the PA in order to avoid a deteriorating situation that might include terror attacks.