Barak said they discussed ways to implement last month's Sharm el-Sheikh peace deal with the Palestinians, but added he and Clinton did not reach any significant agreements.
"Israel strives for the peace that will be reached on the negotiating table, rather than imposing the will of one side on the other," Barak told reporters.
He said he had been prepared at the Camp David summit in July to consider "far-reaching ideas" to promote peace. "Unfortunately," he said, "we do hear different signals from the Arab side. I can just say that this is not the way."
Barak also dismissed calls at an Islamic summit in Qatar to sever ties with Israel.
We expect that the governments and peoples of the free world will make up their minds and decide if jihad (holy war) or negotiated agreements" are the right way to solve a conflict.
"I think negotiated settlements are more appropriate at the entrance to the 21st century," he said.
Barak's meeting at the White House followed talks between Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last Thursday, after which no progress was reported in restarting the stalled peace process. Sunday in Gaza, one Palestinian youth was reported to have been killed. Nearly 200 people, the vast majority of them Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, have been killed in six weeks of fighting in the region.
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