Jerusalem - Every day without an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement is a day wasted, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday, as he made what may well be his last appearance before a Knesset committee.

"Every day that passes without coming to an agreement with the Palestinians is one more day that, in the future, we'll regret," Olmert was quoted as telling the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.

"If we do not reach a quick agreement, we will miss an opportunity and the price for that is liable to be heavy," he said.

Olmert, who announced in July that we will step down once his Kadima party elects a new leader in primaries on Wednesday, pledged with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last November to try and reach a peace deal by the end of this year.

Peace negotiations restarted at the turn of the year, after a seven-year hiatus, but are being held amid a virtual blackout, leading to conflicting reports on what, if any progress has been made.

But, Olmert warned Monday, "there is no magic charm which will facilitate an agreement - and the price will be very heavy."

However, he said, whatever the price Israel paid, it would be less than that Israel would have to pay if there was no agreement in the future.

He also said, in response to a comment that the danger of Palestinian militant rocket attacks would increase were Israel to withdraw from more territory, that "even today, the State of Israel, from end to end, is in the range of missiles from terrorist organizations, and therefore, the concession of a metre more or less is not significant."

Olmert is expected to meet this week with Abbas. While his office said no date has been scheduled, Palestinian sources said the parley would take place on Tuesday.

The two men have been meeting regularly to review the work of the negotiating teams headed respectively by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian premier Ahmed Qureia.

As the deadline for an agreement approaches, however, more and more voices are raised expressing scepticism that it can be met.

Olmert himself has suggested postponing a deal on Jerusalem, one of the core issues and a likely deal-breaker, but Palestinians have rejected this idea.

Qureia said no deal was preferable to a deal which did not include Jerusalem, saying the city, holy to both Jews and Muslims, is "the capital of heart, soul, religion, faith, culture and economy."

While Palestinians want Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, Olmert - or any Israeli leader - would face enormous opposition from religious legislators and the observant Israeli public in giving Palestinians sovereignty over Jerusalem which include Jewish holy places.

Israel's counter terrorism bureau, meanwhile, issued an urgent warning Monday urging Israelis not to vacation in Egypt or the Sinai peninsula, for fear Islamic militants would kidnap them and smuggle them into the Gaza Strip.

The counter-terrorism bureau described the threat as "concrete, very high" and said the involvement of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement added to its seriousness.

Israelis already in Egypt or the Sinai were urged to leave immediately and not to linger.

The Sinai peninsula, especially its coastal resorts, is a popular vacation spot for Israelis, especially during the Jewish holiday season, which begins in a few weeks. (dpa)