European Union ambassadors pulled out of a tour of tunnels on the new Tel Aviv-Jerusalem railway line on the grounds that one section of the track crosses the West Bank.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued invitations to all ambassadors serving in Israel several weeks ago, and the tour was scheduled for a date in early June.

But after the EU diplomats declined to join the tour, the Israeli Transport Ministry scrapped the entire visit.

Foreign Ministry officials discovered that the head of the EU delegation to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, had urged the ambassadors not to participate because a portion of the route passes through Area C of the West Bank, territory that according to the Oslo Accords is under Israeli civil as well as military control.

The West Bank is considered occupied territory by the international community.