Israel bars Omar and Tlaib because of BDS activism
Decision reverses prior announcement • Trump tweeted Israel would show ‘great weakness’ letting them in
Israel on Thursday decided to bar entry to US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), satisfying US President Donald Trump but in the process unleashing a wave of criticism from pro-Israel Democrats.
No country in the world respects the US and its Congress more than Israel, Netanyahu said in a statement, but Israeli law prohibits entry to those calling for and working to impose a boycott on the country.
The decision came just hours after Trump, who reportedly has been pressing Israel into barring entry to the two congresswomen – with whom he has been engaged in a high profile Twitter war for a month – said that to let them in would be a sign of “great weakness.”
“They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds,” he wrote. “They are a disgrace!”
The decision to not allow their entry – based on a 2017 law that is only sporadically implemented – is a sharp reversal of policy. Last month, Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer said the two Muslim legislators, both of whom are harsh critics of Israeli policies, would be allowed into the country.
“Out of respect for the US Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America, we would not deny entry to any member of Congress into Israel,” he said.
Netanyahu, explaining the decision, said that Israel is a “vibrant and free democracy” that is open to all criticism – except for a call for boycotts.
“Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar are leading activists in promoting boycott legislation against Israel in the American Congress,” he said.
Netanyahu said that Israel received their itinerary only a few days ago, and it became clear that they were planning a visit whose “sole objective was to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel’s legitimacy.”
He pointed out that they referred to the trip as a visit to “Palestine,” and not to Israel, and – as opposed to all other Democratic and Republican representatives in the past – did not request any meeting with official Israeli representatives, either from the government or the opposition.
The prime minister said that other democracies in the world also prohibit entry of those whom they think seek their harm, and that the US itself did this in the past to an Israeli MK.
This was a reference to former far-right National Union MK Michael Ben-Ari, who was refused a visa in 2012, apparently because he was a member of Kach, a group the US has designated a terrorist organization.
Netanyahu said that the NGO that is sponsoring the trip – Miftah – is an avid advocate of BDS and includes members who have supported terrorism against Israel.
THE PRIME MINISTER said that the decision to bar entry was made by Interior Minister Arye Deri, and that he supports it.
Deri also issued a statement on the matter. “The State of Israel respects the US Congress, as part of the close alliance between the two countries, but it is inconceivable that anyone who intends to harm the State of Israel will be allowed in,” he said.
The interior minister said it was a difficult decision and that, after initially permitting them to come, he changed his mind when he saw their itinerary and their refusal to meet with any Israelis.
“They don’t want to know the facts,” he said. “They didn’t want to ask anyone their tough questions about Israel.”
Deri made clear that if Tlaib, who has family in the West Bank, requests entry for humanitarian reasons to meet with her family – subject to the appropriate obligations – he would consider it.
In a nine-page explanation of the decision, spelling out actions and statements the congresswomen have made in support of boycotting Israel – as well as providing some background information on the Sponsoring NGO Miftah, which is chaired by PLO official Hanan Ashrawi – Deri wrote that he decided against making an exception to the law and allowing them in when it became clear that they actively and continuously promote BDS.
“I am aware of the diplomatic sensitivity that this decision may cause because of their high positions, and the unpleasantness that preventing their entry may cause – and I’m sorry about that,” he wrote. With that, he said, these types of situations were taken into consideration when the law was passed.
Netanyahu met on Wednesday with Deri, as well as Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat and Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit, to formulate a position on the matter.
BOTH HOUSE Majority leader Steny Hoyer, who led 41 Democratic members of Congress to Israel last week, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is currently here with
31 Republicans, have said that Israel should allow in the two congresswomen.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh blasted the move, tweeting that the decision to deny the two “entry to occupied #Palestine, as well as the inciting remarks made against them, implies fear of exposing the tyranny of the Israeli occupation to the US public. Racism and democracy are incompatible.”
And Ashrawi, who herself was recently denied a visit to the US, released a statement calling the step an “outrageous act of hostility against the American people and their representatives. This is a dangerous precedent that defies all diplomatic norms and an assault on the Palestinian people’s right to engage with the rest of the world.”
As the “illegal occupying power of Palestine,” she wrote, Israel “has no right to impose such a ban on Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar, who wanted to visit Palestine and see, firsthand, the reality of occupation under which Palestinians live.” She also slammed Trump, saying that his “slanderous and fallacious statement” against “his own nationals and elected representatives” amounts to “hateful incitement.”
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, meanwhile, issued a statement saying that the US “respects” the decision to deny entry to the delegation.
“The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel is not free speech,” he said. “Rather, it is no less than economic warfare designed to delegitimize and ultimately destroy the Jewish state. Israel properly has enacted laws to bar entry of BDS activists under the circumstances present here, and it has every right to protect its borders against those activists in the same manner as it would bar entrants with more conventional weapons.”
Friedman noted that Israel initially indicated it would allow the visit and use it as an opportunity to “engage and educate” them.
“Unfortunately, the itinerary of the Tlaib/Omar delegation leaves no room for that opportunity,” he said. “In contrast to the nearly 70 freshmen members of Congress who just recently completed, or who are currently pursuing, a balanced visit to Israel that includes meetings with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the Tlaib/Omar delegation has limited its exposure to tours organized by the most strident of BDS activists. This trip, pure and simple, is nothing more than an effort to fuel the BDS engine that Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar so vigorously support,” he said. “Like the United States, Israel is a nation of laws. We support Israel’s application of its laws in this case.” •