Israel's Justice Minister Tzipi Livni ramped up the controversy over the decision to prevent Palestinian workers from travelling on Israeli buses in the West Bank by describing the reasons for the move as "apartheid".

Ms Livni, who had directed the attorney general to look into the issue, made the remark in an interview on IDF Radio while discussing Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon's decision last month to back bus segregation.

She said that it was Mr Yaalon's duty to be responsible for Israelis' security, but that the reasons given by settlers who had demanded Palestinians be barred from the buses were "unacceptable".

She said: "The settlers' claims to need buses for themselves because no-one gets up for a woman or an elderly person and it's unpleasant are apartheid.

"If it's security considerations… I will back it up. But if it's pressure from the settlers who are uncomfortable and find it unpleasant in the places they chose to live, where there are Palestinians … I will act against it. It is discrimination and is illegal in Israel."