New York Daily News

Steinem hits Bibi for ‘Squad’ ban

- BY SHANT SHAHRIGIAN

Gloria Steinem has vowed she won’t visit Israel or the Palestinia­n territorie­s as long as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in power.

“I’m not sure you will see this as a loss, but I just want to say that your denial of entry and free speech to my U.S. congresswo­men, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, is also a welcome sign that I never have to enter any country or place under your authority,” the feminist icon wrote in an open letter to Netanyahu on Friday.

Steinem (photo) went on to recount meeting him at his “New York dinner table” “in the 1980s,” when he was Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations: “You were a conversati­onal bully to your guests then, just as you are a bully to these two elected women leaders now.”

Israel on Thursday barred Omar and Tlaib from a planned visit there, with Netanyahu saying they planned to

“hurt” Israel.

The announceme­nt came shortly after President Trump called on Israel not to let in the lawmakers, who have strongly criticized Israeli policies.

“I know that Donald Trump, the accidental occupant of the White House, is drawn to successful bullies, from Russia to Saudi Arabia,” Steinem wrote, “but I hoped that as the leader of a nation dedicated to democracy and free speech, you would support the same rights for two elected leaders from my country.

“If you and Trump continue to imitate each other, you will eventually be alone together at the table,” the letter concluded. “I could wish both of you no greater punishment than that.”

Both Omar and Tlaib retweeted Steinem’s message.

Tlaib, whose extended family lives in the occupied West Bank, indicated she is not giving up on her visit.

“One day @IlhanMN and I will see Bethlehem and InshAllah it will be free when we do. #FreePalest­ine,” she tweeted Saturday night.

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