"I truly hope the truck drivers will overcome the temptation to use the technical ability to clog up the country's arteries," said Mr Barak, speaking on Israeli radio.

Israeli police say the disruption has so far proved minimal, as most people had heeded warnings to avoid the roads most badly hit.

The latest protests come as oil prices reached a 10-year high, with crude oil trading at as much as $34.35 per barrel on Tuesday morning.

Protests over high fuel prices have swept Europe in September, and direct action has forced governments to consider measures aimed at reducing their impact.

Spanish blockades

Fuel price protests are continuing in Spain, with thousands of farmers due to gather in 34 towns and cities on Tuesday.

In Madrid alone, about 1,000 tractors are expected to converge on both the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance.

The farmers say they will blockade traffic and fuel depots around the country from 1100 local time (0900 GMT) after the collapse of talks between their unions and the Spanish Government.

Elsewhere in Spain, blockades continue in the northern towns of Burgos and Leon despite riot police action on Monday evening to break up blockades of depots in Salamanca and Valladolid.

Fishermen also lifted their one-day blockade of Barcelona early on Tuesday morning, but warned that unless a breakthrough was made in talks, they would resume their action.

This seems likely as protesters continue to reject the Spanish Government's offer of income-tax cuts to offset rising fuel prices.

Scandinavian protests

Protests are also continuing in Scandinavia, with some 60-70 truck drivers blockading goods terminals in the port of Gothenburg in Sweden on Tuesday.

Freight depots in Malmo have also been hit by blockades and some railway and ferry terminals in Stockholm have also been affected.

Truck drivers are also threatening to resume their blockade of oil refineries in Gothenburg, which ended on Monday evening.

However, protests in Norway have collapsed following a threat of legal action against truckers from Norwegian state oil company Statoil.

Tax cuts

In Finland, the government has announced road tax cuts for truck drivers.

Juha Norppa-Rahkola from the Finnish Trucking Association, said: "It's a step in the right direction, but it's not enough...it's really peanuts."

The German Government has also been attempting to address high fuel price protests by extending its proposed tax allowance to cover all people who drive to work, irrespective of distance.

Despite the proposals, over 300 trucks, taxis and buses paralysed the centre of Hamburg on Tuesday morning bearing banners reading "Diesel price down or we lose our jobs".