McDonalds Israel has rejected an offer to open a restaurant in the West Bank.
The franchise of the American fast food chain turned down an offer to expand into Ariel, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, AFP reported on Wednesday.
Israeli television stations stated that the company had rejected the proposal to "ideological reasons", according to AFP. The restaurant was planned to open in a mall under construction in Ariel that is due to open at the beginning of 2014.
Housing Minister Uri Ariel, a member of the far-right Jewish Home party, reacted by calling on Israelis to boycott McDonald's, AFP reported.
"Those who boycott should know that they will be boycotted," he was quoted as saying.
