Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is the frontrunner to take over for embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when their Kadima Party holds primaries next month, confirmed on Sunday that she will continue land-for-peace talks with Syria.

In an interview with CNN, Livni said that if elected Kadima leader she will press forward with efforts to make peace with Syria based on a partial or full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Rejecting the current sentiment of the Israeli public and the positions of previous governments, Livni insisted that "the idea of peace means, of course, territorial concessions."

Opinion polls consistently show that the vast majority of Israelis oppose surrendering any part of the Golan to Syria, even in the framework of a genuine peace agreement.

Israel officially annexed the Golan in 1982, maintaining that the strategic plateau should never return to Syria after the latter had used it as a launching pad for attacks on and invasions of the Jewish state.