Defense Minister Ehud Barak flew to Jordan twice this week—once to talk with King Abdullah and then return home to update Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and a second time for secret talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

No details of their conversation were revealed, according to Voice of Israel government radio, which first reported the "direct talks" that were held at an undisclosed private home on Sunday, five days before Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Abbas in Washington. Labor Minister Yitzchak Herzog also met with King Abdullah in Jordan on Monday in a previously unreported visit.