Obama, who has pressured Israel to freeze the settlements in the West Bank, joined White House talks between Barak and US national security advisor General James Jones, a White House spokesman said.

Spokesman Tommy Vietor said the US president had "dropped by for 12 minutes" but declined to say whether Barak and Obama, who leaves later Tuesday on his maiden mission to the Middle East, had had substantive talks.

But a senior administration official said Jones and Barak "had a constructive discussion on the range of issues facing the United States and Israel, including the realization of comprehensive peace in the Middle East, and other regional issues.

"General Jones underscored our unshakable commitment to Israel's security," the official said, asking to remain anonymous.

The Israeli minister, who arrived Tuesday in the US capital, is seeking to heal a growing rift with his country's main ally over how to rekindle the faltering peace process.

During his three-day trip, Barak is also expected to meet Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell.

Barak is likely to devote a lot of time to easing tensions, although the talks were originally planned to focus mainly on bilateral defense ties and US-led international efforts to halt Iran's nuclear drive, an aide said.

The defense chief is also expected to discuss US arms sales to Israel, including a request for it to buy up to 75 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in a deal worth as much as 15.2 billion dollars and other advanced weapon systems, a senior Israeli official said.

Barak's visit comes just two weeks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first meeting with Obama in Washington, revealing deep divides over their visions for achieving peace.

And Obama warned in an interview on Monday, just hours before heading to the region, that Washington had to be more frank with its staunch ally.

"I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact that the current direction... in the region is profoundly negative, not only for Israeli interests but also US interests," he told National Public Radio.

In particular, Obama's administration has repeatedly called for Israel to stop all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, an idea rejected by Netanyahu and his largely right-wing government.

But Obama's tough stand is also drawing fire at home, with some US lawmakers including some Democratic allies openly concerned at his demands on Israel.

Democratic Representative Shelley Berkley said Obama should train his attention on bigger security threats, rather than focusing on Israel.

"Iran continues to push forward on its development of nuclear weapons and frankly, that should be President Obama's focus rather than the Israeli settlements," said Berkley.

Meanwhile, opposition Republicans also staked out a tough position on Obama's Mideast initiatives.

"As Palestinian terror shows no sign of abating, President Obama's insistence that it is in America's best interest to pressure Israel sends the wrong message to the region," said House Republican Eric Cantor.

"Where is the outrage at the Palestinians' continued refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state? Where is the concern for their failure to root out the terrorists in their midst?" said Cantor, a Virginia lawmaker who also serves in the Republican leadership, in a statement.

Democrat Carl Levin, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who also met with Barak on Tuesday, backed the president's stand however.

"I think what he (Obama) has done with the settlements is what many administrations have done, since it's been our policy that Israel should freeze settlements," he told AFP.

"That's been our policy during the Bush administration, it's been our policy for a long time. The settlement expansion has not been helpful."

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