Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today it would be clear within "days" whether the crisis-hit peace talks would be extended beyond an April 29 deadline, local media reported.
His remarks, reported by several Israeli news websites, come as US officials work around the clock to prevent a collapse of the negotiations over a dispute about Palestinian prisoners.
"It could be a matter of just days," Netanyahu reportedly told ministers from his rightwing Likud party who met just before the weekly cabinet meeting.
"Either the matter will be resolved or it will blow up. And in any case, there won't be any deal without Israel knowing clearly what it will get in exchange," he said.
"And if there is a deal, it will be put to the cabinet for approval."
With the talks teetering on the brink of collapse, Washington has been fighting an uphill battle to coax the two sides into accepting a framework proposal which would extend the negotiations beyond April to the end of the year.
But the matter has become tied up with the fate of 26 veteran Palestinian prisoners who Israel was to have freed this weekend under terms of an agreement which brought about a resumption of talks.
Israel on Friday informed the Palestinians they would not free the detainees, with US State Department confirming it was working "intensively" to resolve the dispute.
The Palestinians say they will not even consider extending the talks without the prisoners being freed, but Israel has refused to release them without a Palestinian commitment to continue the talks, prompting a fresh crisis of confidence.
"We agreed to the fourth batch," Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz told reporters today, while stressing it would not happen as long as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was preparing to "blow up the negotiations" the very next day.
But Zehava Galon who heads the leftwing Meretz party urged Netanyahu "to take brave decisions, even if they are difficult.
