The Egypt troubles were raised but Barak refused to be drawn on the events in his comments to reporters afterwards. "It is up to the Egyptian people to find a way and to do it according to their own constitution, norms and practices," he said.
But despite Egypt's troubles and widespread criticism of Israel's refusal to halt settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, the senior Israeli minister declared himself "optimist(ic)" that an accord could be reached.
"Despite all the turbulence around us we should look for opportunities within those difficulties, rather than to spiral into a sense of too heavy uncertainty that paralyses us from acting towards a better and more stable region," Barak told reporters.
Israeli-Palestinian peace will only emerge from dialogue between the two, he added. The Palestinians have refused US-brokered direct talks since Israel ended a settlement moratorium at the end of September.
The minister, who recently quit the Labor party and set up his own centrist group to stay in the government, highlighted what he called "confidence building measures" in Gaza and the West Bank which he said were intended to strengthen "institutions and a kind of state in embryo."
Israel has slightly eased an embargo on Gaza and approved more construction in the Hamas-ruled territory while allowing the extension of the Palestinian Authority's presence in the West Bank and the building of new schools and clinics.
Barak said Israel was "ready to open immediate discussions about how to establish security arrangements with the future Palestinian state."
The UN chief "took positive note" of the measures in Gaza and the West Bank but told Barak it was "vital" to break the peace stalemate and urged Israel to meet its international commitments, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement.
He also urged Israel "to take further steps to ease the suffering in Gaza," the spokesman said.
The Middle East diplomatic Quartet -- the United Nations, United States, Russia and European Union -- has set a deadline of September for an accord on setting up a Palestinian state. US President Barack Obama has also said he wanted a Palestinian member of the United Nations by September.
The deadlocked talks have led many nations to predict that the deadline will be missed, however, with a risk of new tensions.
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