If there is no permanent settlement before May 1999, the Palestinians will have to declare unilaterally their own state because, otherwise, politically they are doomed.

When there's a will by both sides, the final five weeks might be sufficient, ... I hope Palestinians and Israelis will be strong enough to get to the moment of truth, to the permanent solution, which is around the corner.

So Arafat can no more declare unilaterally what that outcome would be than I could. We could each unilaterally decide what we want and then we'd have an explosion.

Withdrawing from Gaza offers real political opportunities for peace,

It is a golden opportunity when the American administration is ready to be so much involved and has invested so much in the peace process, ... I am still optimistic about getting the solution in the very near future.

If anyone really wants to get prisoners released, the last thing he should do to encourage it is to continue with this process, because not one of us will countenance release of prisoners on the background of columns of smoke in the territories,