Democratic congresswomen had planned to visit the Israeli-occupied West Bank, hours after President Trump had urged the country to block them.

Mr. Trump’s intervention was an extraordinary step to influence an allied nation and punish his political opponents at home. Israel’s decision to bar the two congresswomen, Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, was widely criticized, including by prominent Israel supporters.

The two lawmakers, both freshmen, are the first Muslim women elected to Congress. Both are outspoken adversaries of Mr. Trump and have been vocal in their support of the Palestinians and the boycott-Israel movement.

The president has targeted them in speeches and Twitter postings that his critics have called racist and xenophobic.

It was reported last week that Mr. Trump was pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to deny entrance to the two women, and Thursday morning he left little doubt. While Israeli officials were still deliberating the matter, he said in a Twitter post that “it would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib to visit.”
Later on Thursday Israel’s Interior Ministry announced that Mr. Netanyahu had decided to deny entry to the two American lawmakers, on grounds of their “boycott activities against Israel” and in accordance with the country’s anti-boycott law.

“No country in the world respects America and the American Congress more than the state of Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement after the decision had been announced. “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 prevent the entry of people believed to be damaging to the country.”

Welcoming the decision, Mr. Trump said on Twitter: “Representatives Omar and Tlaib are the face of the Democrat Party, and they HATE Israel!”

In lobbying a foreign government to bar members of the United States Congress, Mr. Trump crossed yet another line that other presidents generally respected. No matter how virulent their differences at home, presidents have traditionally not enlisted the help of overseas allies to take action against domestic political adversaries.

But Mr. Trump has demonstrated time and again over the last two and a half years that he sees little need to observe the norms that governed previous occupants of the White House, dismissing them either as antiquated or irrelevant if he recognized their existence at all. To Mr. Trump, politics is a contact sport with few limits and Ms. Omar and Ms. Tlaib have become two of his favorite targets.

In a statement, Ms. Omar called the actions by Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu “an affront” that had limited the ability of members of Congress to learn from both Israelis and Palestinians.

“Sadly, this is not a surprise given the public positions of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has consistently resisted peace efforts, restricted the freedom of movement of Palestinians, limited public knowledge of the brutal realities of the occupation and aligned himself with Islamophobes like Donald Trump,” she said.

“The irony of the ‘only democracy’ in the Middle East making such a decision,” she said, “is that it is both an insult to democratic values and a chilling response to a visit by government officials from an allied nation.”

However, Trump's ambassador to Israel, David M. Friedman, said in a statement that the boycott movement was “no less than economic warfare” and that Israel had “every right to protect its borders” against activists who support it.


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/world/middleeast/trump-israel-omar-tlaib.html
lalasticlala mynd44

Is it morally permissible to visit a country you neither love nor recognise?

Israel can go to hell for all we care...

Thliab and Omar can visit Sambisa, their entry is guaranteed and unrestricted.

Well

good move. religion of wahalla. How will this world be without Islam? peaceful, Habitable and sweet.

You hate a place, and you still want to visit.
It's official: Those two are high on weed.

No Sane Person will Open His Eyes and Carry Fire into His Bosom.....


Great Job from the Isrealites..

fergie001:
Is it morally permissible to visit a country you neither love nor recognise?

We must Say no to terrorist!!!

Anything Muslim=destruction

Nice one

Jews =1

Islam a'Bad =0


They want to Ruga Israel....

Ndi Arah!

She shouldn't vex for Israel abeg.
Since the Jews don't want her, let her visit Sambisa Forest instead where she'd be received with love by Al Barnawi.

Let her visit somali

The "Squad" are lunatics. Maybe the Mossad has something fun planned for them in the future.

Why visit a country you dont love?

Good move by Isreal.

They should always defend themselves from haters.

They are free to visit other countries that support their hate against Israel like Iran or North Korea.