Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told Israeli public radio Thursday that Israel will deny entry to radical, anti-Semitic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib (pictured) over their support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
“Israel has decided we won’t enable the members of Congress to enter the country,” said Hotovely. “We won’t allow those who deny our right to exist in this world to enter Israel. In principle this is a very justified decision.”
In 2017, Israel enacted a law prohibiting entry to anyone who “knowingly issues a public call for boycotting Israel,” but Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer had previously said Omar and Tlaib would be allowed in the country, “[o]ut of respect for the U.S. Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ultimately decided, however, that “The two-member congressional visitation plan shows that their intent is to hurt Israel and increase unrest against it.”