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[Published: Friday August 16 2019]

AIPAC, pro-Israel US lawmakers rebuke Netanyahu over Omar-Tlaib ban

WASHINGTON, 16 August. - (ANA) -  The American Israel Public Affairs Committee spoke out Thursday against Israel's decision to bar American lawmakers Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from visiting the country.

Israel's decision to ban Ilham Omar from entering Israel will escalate tensions with Democrats, casting Israel as collaborating with Trump’s hate campaign against minorities

Israel s Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer announced last month that out of respect for the U.S. Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America , his government would not deny entry to Israel but he was overruled by his Ministry.

Israel’s announcement, aided by President Donald Trump’s explicit endorsement, prompted Democratic lawmakers to rally around Omar and Tlaib — including members of Congress who had previously expressed criticism over their positions — uniting moderates and progressives who have disagreed over this broader issue for months.

The Israeli government officially announced on Thursday it would block the two freshmen Congresswomen — who have been repeatedly targeted by President Donald Trump — from entering the country, a day after reports began surfacing that officials were considering it. Israel partially backtracked on Friday morning, announcing that Tlaib would be allowed into the country to visit her 90-year-old grandmother, who lives in the West Bank, on humanitarian grounds.

“As a free and vibrant democracy, Israel is open to critics and criticism with one exception: Israeli law prohibits the entry into Israel of those who call for and work to impose boycotts on Israel, as do other democracies that prohibit the entry of people who seek to harm the country,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar are leading activists in promoting the legislation of boycotts against Israel in the American Congress.”

Israel’s decision to ban the two freshman lawmakers was a step too far for many members of Congress, even some who are still wary of Tlaib and Omar’s positions on Israel. Many of those same lawmakers who had criticized Omar months earlier leapt to her and Tlaib’s defense.  - (ANA) -

AB/ANA/16 August 2019 - - -

 


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