Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that he would make "every possible effort" to negotiate peace with the Palestinians but will act unilaterally without an agreement.

Olmert said at a news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair that Israel "will not tolerate nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran" - but sidestepped a question about possible Israeli action.

Israel Prime Minster Ehud Olmert speaks to British Jewish community leaders at an hotel in London, Monday, June 12, 2006. [AP]

Olmert went further than before in his statements about a pullout from the West Bank, suggesting that a withdrawal would encompass "90 percent" of the territory Israel occupies, although he said that figure was approximate.

He left the door open to future negotiated pullouts even after a unilateral and partial withdrawal.

The prime minister is visiting Britain and France to win support for his approach to the West Bank. Under his plan, Israel would pull out of most of the territory and dismantle dozens of Jewish settlements but retain key areas, including major settlement blocs and east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians seek for a capital.

"What will happen when we will come to the point of the 90 percent of the territories, and the remaining 10 percent remains to be seen?" Olmert said.

If "the day will come when the Palestinians will be ready to negotiate with us ... I will then be willing to come to discuss it in detail," he continued.

In a briefing with reporters later, he said he was "not talking precisely down to the millimeter."

Asked about the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, Olmert said Israel "will not be able to accept such a reality."

Olmert sidestepped a question on whether Israel would act alone against Iran's nuclear program - as it did in 1981, when Israeli warplanes destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear facility. He said he hoped recent U.S. and European efforts "will stop any events that will advance Iran toward the possession of nuclear weapons."

Blair's response to Olmert's pullout comments balanced support for negotiations with a nuanced acceptance of what Israel calls its other options should talks lead nowhere.

Israel withdrew unilaterally from all of the Gaza Strip last year.

On the West Bank, Olmert has signaled he will give the Palestinians until year's end to resume peace talks before unilateral action. The Palestinians view a unilateral pullout as a way to strengthen Israel's hold on parts of the West Bank that the Jewish state would retain.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is eager to restart negotiations with Israel. But Olmert has said meaningful talks cannot take place as long as the militant group Hamas, which controls the Palestinian legislature and Cabinet, remains committed to Israel's destruction.