Israel and the Palestinians have never been so close to a peace deal, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has claimed following talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Mr Olmert, talking up peace prospects as he clings to office in the face of new corruption allegations, told reporters problems still had to be overcome between the two sides and that it was time to make tough decisions.
"It seems to me that we have never been as close to the possibility of reaching an accord as we are today," he said, standing along Abbas and Sarkozy at a news conference.
"It seems that we have reached the time when the Palestinian authorities and the Israelis have to take serious and important decisions that will finally take us to where we have never been before," Mr Olmert added, without giving further details.
Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas launched US-sponsored peace negotiations last year with the stated aim of achieving an agreement before President George W. Bush leaves office next January. But progress has been stymied by violence and mutual recrimination.
Israeli media reports said that at their Paris meeting, Mr Olmert told Mr Abbas he planned to release Palestinian prisoners.
Asked to comment, Mr Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, said: "The prime minister is in favour of a release that would be above and beyond what would take place in the framework of the hostage negotiation." He did not mention numbers or dates.
Israel is pursuing, through Egyptian mediation, a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip, where an Israeli soldier has been held since 2006. Israel and Lebanon's Hizbullah group are to carry out a prisoner swap on Wednesday.
Mr Sarkozy visited Israel and the occupied West Bank last month as part of efforts to facilitate the negotiations and repeated on Sunday that Europe and France were ready to help out.
Mr Abbas welcomed the French intercession and voiced hope "that we can arrive at peace within a number of months".
Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas were in Paris to take part in a summit of EU and Mediterranean leaders organised by Mr Sarkozy. Also present was Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been holding indirect, Turkish-mediated peace talks with Israel.
Mr Olmert's visit to France has been overshadowed back home by a corruption scandal. Already suspected of illegally receiving $150,000 from a US businessman, Mr Olmert was hit by new police allegations on Friday of fraud over travel expenses.