Barak, of the center-left Labour party, on Monday sounded a public alarm over the state of ties with Israel's closest ally, saying Israel's coalition "must act to change things.”
A statement from his office said he had talked with Mitchell for an hour "about renewing talks with the Palestinians,” but it gave no details. The statement said Barak "wished Senator Mitchell every success in his current mission.”
Mitchell was due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and later Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"I think we're all now very focused on seeing what the Americans may come up with," said one European diplomat.
"They're the ones who may be able to move things along, though it's not clear how." A senior Israeli official played down a newspaper report that Netanyahu had proposed agreeing to Palestinian statehood with temporary borders in order to sidestep deadlock over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Abbas has rejected past Israeli suggestions for a state with provisional borders, but the left-wing daily Haaretz said Netanyahu was floating an interim deal to entice him back to the negotiating table, as US President Barack Obama is urging.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley on Thursday said the decision to dispatch Mitchell on a new mission was made after talks with Israelis and Palestinians.
"We don't go to meet just to meet. We go there because we have some indication that both sides are willing to engage seriously on the issues," he said.
DIFFERENCES Netanyahu and Obama have been sharply at odds over Israeli settlement policy in the occupied West Bank, a territory the Palestinians want for their state.
Netanyahu wants to avoid a lasting split with Washington ally, but yielding any ground to the US or Palestinians could unhinge his pro-settler ruling coalition.
"Netanyahu clearly has to balance maintaining his coalition with his relationship with the Americans," the diplomat said.
Netanyahu reiterated on Thursday that he would not freeze settlement building in the area of East Jerusalem, land Israel captured in 1967 and annexed as part of its capital in a move not recognized internationally.
"Our policy in Jerusalem will not change," he told Israel's Channel Two television. "There won't be a freeze in Jerusalem ... Why do I need to give up on Jerusalem?"
