JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Strong winds blowing clouds of dust grounded President Barack Obama's helicopter on Friday, forcing the US leader to make the short journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem by motorcade, Israeli police said.

The route will take Obama through Israel's barrier in the occupied West Bank, Israeli security sources said. Palestinians see the barrier as a land grab; Israel says the network of fences and walls has blocked infiltration by Palestinian attackers.

In Bethlehem, Obama will tour the Church of the Nativity, the traditional site of Jesus's birth, before traveling by motorcade to Tel Aviv airport and flying off on Air Force One to Jordan.