Israel's new President Moshe Katsav warned of a "confrontation", in an interview in Munich, if Palestinian President Yasser Arafat unilaterally declares statehood on September 13th.
"If Arafat does that, Israel will not recognize this state and this could lead to a confrontation. It would be serious and would go against our national interests and those of the Palestinians," he told the Focus weekly, due out Monday.
He said Arafat committed an error during the Camp David summit, which ended in failure on July 25th, by not showing himself "ready to compromise".
"The Arabs are unfortunately still making the same mistake: they reject all our proposals," Katsav said.
"In the long term, the peace process is irreversible," he added.
Arafat is trying to drum up support for a Palestinian state, although he has indicated that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is reviewing its September 13th statehood target - (AFP)
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