The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has claimed he will make "every effort" to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians if elected to a third term.
Laying out his agenda, Sharon also said the world has military options to halt Iran's nuclear weapons program, but that diplomacy should remain the first line of defence.
Since leaving the Likud Party and forming another party, Kadima, Sharon has largely evaded attempts to pin him down on policy details. He has said his main goal was to make progress toward an agreement with the Palestinians.
Polls have shown his new party coming out on top in March 28 elections. "I will win these elections," Sharon predicted yesterday.
Sharon said he would "make every effort to advance the peace process," repeating his commitment to the US-backed "road map" peace plan.
However, he said Israel will keep large Jewish West Bank settlements in any peace deal and suggested that Israel would have a hard time giving up the West Bank's Jordan Valley, on the border with Jordan, calling it a "security zone."
He added that he does "not foresee" additional unilateral pullbacks, following last summer's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. He also said settlement construction is continuing, and that he will not encourage Israeli settlers living on the "Palestinian" side of Israel's West Bank separation barrier to move back to Israel.
Israeli government statistics published yesterday said the Jewish settler population in the West Bank is expected to grow by 4.3 percent - faster than in any other Israeli district - this year.