The Israeli defense minister has ordered to ban Palestinian workers from using Israeli public bus lines in the West Bank, the Ha'aretz daily reported on Sunday.
Under the order, Palestinian workers who travel to their day jobs inside Israel will not be able to ride busses that connect the West Bank with central Israel. They will instead have to make a detour to Eyal Crossing, far from the most populated areas in the West Bank. The Palestinians have to undergo security checks at the crossings and cannot spend the night inside Israel.
The decision is set to come into effect next month, the daily reported.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's move comes amid mounting pressure from the Jewish settlers, who have urged to prevent Palestinians from using public transportation for safety reasons, the daily said, but added that the Israel Defense Forces do not consider Palestinian travelers a security threat.
Head of the military's central command, Maj.-Gen. Nitzan Alon, was quoted by the daily as saying that Palestinian workers do not pose a security threat since they must undergo security checkups in order to obtain working licenses in Israel.
The banning, which is set to spark criticism across the international community, comes amid reports on Ya'alon's lukewarm reception in the United State.
Over the weekend, U.S. and Israeli media outlets reported that during Ya'alon recent visit to the United States, the White House refused to let him meet with top U.S. officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice.
The apparent reason for the cold shoulder would be Ya'alon's statements a few months earlier, in which he criticized the U.S. government and called Kerry "messianic" and "obsessive", referring to the central role he played in reviving the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which lasted for nine months and ended by Israel in April over the establishment of the national Palestinian unity government with Hamas.
"Given some of his comments in the recent past, it should come as no surprise that he was denied some meetings," a U.S. official told Ha'aretz. Media outlets reported that figures in the U.S. government chose to leak the information after Ya'alon's visit in order to humiliate him.
Finance Minister Yair Lapid commented on the escalation of tensions between the United States and Israel, admitting there is a crisis between the two allies.
"These are vitally important relations for Israel and we must do everything we can to solve the crisis and resume good relations, " Lapid said in Tel Aviv on Saturday.