The Israeli government has said it will not withdraw from the entire strategic Golan Heights even in return for a peace deal with Syria.

The remark was made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top policy adviser Uzi Arad in an interview published in the Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday.

Israel must remain on the Golan Heights to a depth of several miles "for strategic, military and settlement reasons'', Arad said.

Netanyahu's national security adviser further urged the Syrians to resume peace talks with Israel with no preconditions but "with each side aware of the other's position.''

Israel and Syria have officially been at war since 1967 when Tel Aviv occupied the strategic plateau during the Six-Day War.

Syria wants a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 border, but Israeli officials say the plateau is too strategically important to be returned. The Golan Heights gives Israel access to the Sea of Galilee -- Israel's main source of fresh water.

HRF/DT