Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Tuesday never to give up a major Jewish settlement in the heart of the occupied West Bank, a move that might help blunt rightist ire ahead of March 28 elections.
Olmert said settlers forced to leave isolated West Bank enclaves under his plan to impose Israel's final borders by 2010 would be moved to Ariel and its environs or other major blocs the Jewish state intends to keep.
Palestinians see the settlements as cementing Israel's hold on land captured in a 1967 war and where they seek statehood. One Palestinian official said Olmert's promise to hold on to Ariel would fuel more conflict.
"I want to be clear on this, the Ariel bloc will be an inseparable part of the state of Israel under any situation," Olmert said at Ariel, about 60 km (40 miles) north of Jerusalem.
"If there are communities in places where they cannot remain, they will be relocated to places like this and will receive all the necessary support."
Olmert visited Ariel days after he promised to set Israel's final borders through pullouts from parts of the West Bank if a Palestinian government being formed by Islamic militant group Hamas does not recognise the Jewish state and disarm. His centrist Kadima Party is expected to win the most seats in the general elections.
Many settlers are upset at Olmert's plans to unilaterally withdraw from smaller outposts on land they consider a Jewish biblical birthright. Olmert said he would hold talks with settlers to reach an understanding on any West Bank pullout.
"We will not remain in places that offer us no utility," he said.
Israel unilaterally withdrew settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip last year after 38 years of occupation in a move that was highly popular among a majority of Israelis.
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