Ashkelon Mayor Itamar Shimoni said he would stop Arabs, even those with Israeli passports, from renovating bomb shelters in day care centers. He also said that armed security guards would be placed at kindergartens and pre-schools which are located next to construction sites where Arabs are working.

The mayor defended his decision Thursday, saying, "I have nothing against Arab Israelis, they work with us throughout the year and do construction for us." However, he said, when tensions are high, just as Jews should be prevented from entering the Temple Mount, "by the same measure, I think it is wrong to allow Arab workers into the kindergartens," Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Shimoni’s comments were strongly condemned across the political spectrum.

"There is no place for discrimination against Arab Israelis," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "We cannot make generalizations about an entire population based on a small unruly minority. Most Arabs citizens of Israel are law-abiding."

Glad to see even the most right-wing members of #Israel's government taking a stance against #racism. #Ashkelon's mayor should be ashamed.

— Laurie Scher (@lauriescher1) November 20, 2014

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said it would be going against Israel’s “fundamental values” not to allow them to work just because of their religion.

"Especially now, we must condemn every act of racism and discrimination against Israeli Arabs and every human being, and make an effort to calm tensions instead of inflaming them,” he said, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Economics Minister Naftali Bennett said he would work to make sure the decision was overturned, saying that 99.9 percent of Arab Israelis were law-abiding citizens and loyal to their country.

"There is a very small minority that is against us. As economy minister, I will not allow any worker to be harmed based on religion or race – this will not happen in Israel."