JERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu, the front-runner in polls ahead of Israel's election tomorrow, declared yesterday he would not give up the Golan Heights for peace with Syria, an apparent attempt to toughen his right-wing credentials after a last-minute charge by a hard-line party.

Netanyahu has been leading in the polls since shortly after the Feb. 10 election was called in November, but his lead has been shrinking in recent weeks as another hawkish party, Yisrael Beitenu, or "Israel is our home," surges with a campaign against Israel's Arab citizens.

In moving further to the right, Netanyahu could be setting up a confrontation with the Obama administration if he becomes Israel's leader. Netanyahu opposes talks on a peace treaty with the Palestinians and favors allowing Israeli settlements in the West Bank to expand, two points that are likely to clash with Washington policy.

Netanyahu's two main rivals, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, have both expressed a willingness to trade the Golan Heights for peace.

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