By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israel will likely begin a crackdown on illegal settler outposts in the West Bank when U.S. President George W. Bush visits the region next week, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon was quoted by local media as saying on Friday.
Local daily Ha’aretz reported on its website that real steps would be taken to remove the outposts during the U.S. president’s visit to Israel and afterwards.
Ramon said the crackdown would focus on outposts that fall outside Israel’s security barrier in the West Bank, which Palestinians suspect is meant to demarcate a future border.
“Certainly those illegal outposts located east of the fence” would be on the removal roster, Ramon was quoted as saying.
Under the internationally backed “road map” peace plan, Israel has promised to dismantle unauthorized outposts built since 2001.
Israeli Cabinet has debated the matter several times, but has done little to remove the West Bank outposts.
Nearly 244,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, including several thousand people living in outposts.
On Thursday, Bush called Israeli settlement expansion an “impediment” to the success of revived peace efforts and urged Israel to fulfill its pledge of dismantling the outposts.