Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, is expected to declare Ariel settlement as part of the state of Israel during his visit there on Tuesday, Israeli online daily Haaretz reported.
Official sources in Israel reported that Olmert will deliver “a message of conciliation” to the settlers and a commitment to keep the large settlement blocs under Israeli control.
Also, Olmert is expected to visit West Bank settlers to hold internal dialog regarding setting the borders between Israel and the Palestinian territories in accordance to the Israeli interests.
He is also expected to inaugurate a new water pipe to the settlement; the pipe will pass near the new settlement Highway 5 route, and will replace a pipe which is placed in the Palestinian village of Bidia.
The pipe project is part of funds Israel is investing in order to expand the settlement blocs and their infrastructures in the Palestinian occupied areas in preparation to annex them into Israel.
According to Haaretz, Olmert stated two weeks ago that in the coming few years Israel will not be investing in development beyond its borders.
Olmert presented in weekend interviews with the media his plan to withdraw from Palestinian areas to a border that will surround the large settlement blocs of Maali Adumim, Ariel, Gush Etzion and the occupied Old City of Jerusalem including its adjacent Palestinian neighborhoods.
After annexing these large areas in the occupied West Bank, Olmert intends to evacuate isolated settlements that remain outside the annexation wall area.
