On the way to doubling the population: the special move that will connect Ariel and Gush Dan

A significant infrastructure move on the way to the dramatic expansion of Ariel. Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen and Mayor Yair Shtebon signed an agreement this morning to connect the city to the Shafdan system, the Gush Dan wastewater treatment plant. For the first time, Ariel will be connected to the central treatment system that serves the central region, in a move that creates infrastructure continuity between Samaria and Gush Dan and is intended to enable the city's planned growth in the coming years.

The connection comes as part of preparations for a significant expansion of Ariel, where about 12,000 new housing units are being promoted, alongside the expansion of employment, commerce, and public institution zones. More than 22,000 residents currently live in the city, and according to forecasts presented by the municipality, their number is expected to cross the 50,000 threshold within the next decade. The long-term goal set by Shtebon is to reach 100,000 residents.

Beyond the municipal significance, the move also has political meaning for its leaders. Instead of a separate infrastructure system for Ariel, the city in Samaria will be connected to a central national system serving Gush Dan. Cohen and Shtebon present the connection as part of blurring the infrastructure separation between Judea and Samaria and the rest of the country.

Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen said:

"We continue to promote sovereignty in practice! Connecting the drainage system in Ariel to the system in Gush Dan is an important step that will allow for increasing the population of Ariel on the way to a million residents in Judea and Samaria."

Ariel Mayor Yair Shtebon defined the move as a step that erases the infrastructure borders between Ariel and the center of the country:

"The agreement we are celebrating today erases the infrastructure borders and fully connects Ariel, the capital of Samaria, to the heart of the State of Israel's central transmission system. This move is part of our infrastructure preparations for the growth of the Ariel city population already within the next decade, on the way to the goal I set for the city upon taking office — 100,000 residents."

The connection to the Shafdan also has environmental and planning significance. A sewage and wastewater treatment system is one of the basic infrastructures required before expanding a city on a large scale, and the connection to the central system is supposed to allow for the treatment of larger quantities of wastewater, reduce dependence on local solutions, and reduce risks of soil and water source contamination, primarily the Mountain Aquifer.

Water Authority Director Yehezkel Lifshitz said that connecting the city of Ariel to the Shafdan is a significant milestone for the Israeli water economy. According to him, alongside the environmental aspect, the move will allow for returning purified water to agriculture and creating an infrastructure that can support the accelerated urban and demographic development of the city of Ariel in the coming decades.