TRUMP: IF OMAR AND TLAIB WANT TO BOYCOTT ISRAEL, THEN ISRAEL SHOULD BOYCOTT THEM

Israel’s Deputy FM: US Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar barred from entering country

Israel Hayom
August 15, 2019

Israel's deputy foreign minister officially announced on Thursday that US Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar will not be allowed to enter Israel due to their vocal support of the BDS movement.

“Israel has decided – we won’t enable the members of Congress members to enter the country,” Tzipi Hotovely told Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

“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,” she added.

The decision to ban the two lawmakers from entering Israel, made by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, was first reported by Hebrew-language broadcaster Channel 12.

As final deliberations were being made on the matter, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to encourage the Israeli government not to back down.

"It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tlaib to visit," Trump posted to Twitter earlier on Thursday. "They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds. Minnesota and Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office. They are a disgrace!"

The US lawmakers, both Muslim, are outspoken critics of the Israeli government and vocal supporters of the boycott, divestment, sanctions movement.

In 2017, Israel passed a law allowing the Interior Ministry to bar any foreign national who expresses support of boycotts from entering the country.

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to be weighing whether to bar the lawmakers from entering the country, according to a report by The Washington Post.

Tlaib and Omar were expected to arrive in Israel on Friday. If Hebrew media reports are true, then the decision taken by the Netanyahu government comes despite heavy opposition from US pro-Israel groups and organizations affiliated with the US Democratic Party.

Israeli security officials have been holding secret deliberations for weeks reportedly in preparation of the lawmakers' visit, with Israel's deputy national security concluding “there is high probability” that they will want to visit the Temple Mount due to the fact both congresswomen are Muslim.

According to Channel 13 News, security officials told the broadcaster that they prefer that the congresswomen "won’t come to Israel at all.”

Trump was said to be pressing the Netanyahu government to ban the congresswomen from entering the country, with administration officials telling online publication Axios that his opposition stemmed from their outspoken support of the BDS movement.

White House officials have been quick to deny that the president has exerted influence or pressure on Netanyahu.

"The Israeli government can do what they want. It's fake news," White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Saturday.

Last month, the two congresswomen announced that they would be taking an official trip to both Israel and the Palestinian territories at the end of August, immediately sparking questions about how Jerusalem would handle the situation.

Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer later clarified the issue by releasing a statement saying: "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."

But according to Axios, Trump has grumbled over Dermer's announcement of a decision to let the controversial lawmakers in, reportedly telling top aides that if Omar and Tlaib want to boycott Israel, "then Israel should boycott them."
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DEMOCRATS WARN ISRAEL THAT BARRING OMAR AND TLAIB WILL DAMAGE US-ISRAEL RELATIONS
Democrats blast Israel's 'dangerous' decision to bar Omar, Tlaib from entering the country

By Rebecca Shabad and Alex Moe

Nbc News
August 15, 2019

WASHINGTON — Democrats slammed Israel Thursday over its decision to block pro-Palestinian Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the country on a trip they had planned to take this weekend to Israel and the West Bank.

Many lawmakers warned of the move's potentially negative impact on the U.S.-Israel relationship; called on Israeli officials to reverse Thursday's announcement and return to an earlier position of allowing the pair to enter the country; and accused President Donald Trump of instigating the move.

Ahead of the Israeli government’s announcement, Trump tweeted that it would “show great weakness” if the country allowed the two to enter, later tweeting that "Representatives Omar and Tlaib are the face of the Democrat Party, and they HATE Israel!" Omar and Tlaib are the first two Muslim woman elected to Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the decision "a sad reversal" and "deeply disappointing."

"I pray that the Government of Israel will reverse that denial," she said in a statement, calling the move "a sign of weakness, and beneath the dignity of the great State of Israel."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is Jewish, also said in a statement that denying the two lawmakers entry was "a sign of weakness, not strength" that "will only hurt the U.S.-Israel relationship and support for Israel in America."

"Many strong supporters of Israel will be deeply disappointed in this decision, which the Israeli government should reverse," he said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and has also been a critic of the Israeli government, tweeted: "Banning Congresswomen Omar and Tlaib from entering Israel and Palestine is a sign of enormous disrespect to these elected leaders, to the United States Congress, and to the principles of democracy. The Israeli government should reverse this decision and allow them in."

Omar, of Minnesota, responded in a lengthy Twitter post Thursday afternoon, saying that "Trump's Muslim ban is what Israel is implementing, this time against two duly elected Members of Congress," and calling the decision "both an insult to democratic values and a chilling response to a visit by government officials from an allied nation."

Tlaib, of Michigan, echoed Democratic leadership in calling the move on Twitter a "sign of weakness" and saying Israel had made the decision because "the truth of what is happening to Palestinians is frightening."

The third highest-ranking Democrat in the House, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., tweeted that the decision is “antithetical” to the democratic values shared by the U.S. and Israel.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., an ally of Omar and Tlaib, tweeted that Netanyahu should reconsider the move, which she said sends a “dangerous message.”

Several Democrats, including Reps. Nita Lowey and Jerry Nadler, both New York Democrats and Jewish, who have questioned Omar and Tlaib for their critical statements about Israel, defended them and criticized Israel over Thursday's move.

“I don’t like the way these members often talk about Israel, but a decision to ban congressional critics from Israel would be a big mistake," tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., adding that the move to bar the two would "do long term harm to the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

“When you attack one of us, you attack all of us," said Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a close ally of Omar and Tlaib, who Pressley said have been subject of “some of the most vile and vicious attacks simply for being who they are.”

Pressley said Netanyahu was "stoking division and punishing dissent just like the occupant of the White House."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. — the fourth member of the "the quad," along with Pressley, Omar and Tlaib — tweeted that lawmakers "are frequently asked to visit Israel to 'see things for ourselves.' But Netanyahu choosing to ban the only 2 Muslim women in Congress from entering tells the US that only *some* Americans are welcome to Israel, not all," adding that "Trump is exporting his bigotry & making matters worse."

Many members suggested that the move was provoked by Trump’s policies and statements, including comments specifically about the two congresswomen. “This is a craven, partisan, racist weaponization of the US-Israel relationship that will do lasting damage,” Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., tweeted, suggesting that Trump was trying to play “electoral map games” with the states the two women represent.

“Banning Muslims from travel is one of Trump's most consistent policy positions,” tweeted Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., referring to Trump’s proposal during his 2016 presidential bid to ban all Muslims from entering the United States.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who co-led an official congressional delegation trip to Israel last week with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had helped secure a statement from the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, last month that the government there would not deny entry to any member of Congress "out of respect for the U.S. Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America," an aide to Hoyer told NBC News on Thursday — a position reversed on Thursday.

Hoyer had been working since Wednesday to convince the Israeli government to allow the pair entry, speaking directly to Dermer and Netanyahu, the aide said.

Other House Democrats who lobbied Dermer not to bar Omar and Tlaib from visiting the country included Reps. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Lowey, NBC News confirmed with sources familiar with the conversations.

The most influential pro-Israel group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said on Twitter that all members of Congress should be able to visit the country.

In a statement defending the decision shortly after Trump's tweet, Netanyahu called Omar and Tlaib "leading activists in promoting boycott legislation against Israel in the US Congress" and accused them of "planning a campaign whose sole purpose was to strengthen the boycott and negate Israel's legitimacy.”

He added that they had not sought "any meeting with an official Israeli official in both the government and the opposition."

Omar and Tlaib were among 17 House members to vote against a bill last month that opposed efforts to delegitimize Israel through the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, known as BDS, which passed overwhelmingly with 398 members in support.

Few GOP lawmakers weighed in early Thursday on the Israeli move, though Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida tweeted that it was a "mistake."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, echoed that sentiment.

The Republican Jewish Coalition, meanwhile, called it “the right decision.”

Several Republican members of Congress visited Israel last week on the official congressional delegation visit led by Hoyer and McCarthy.

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, McCarthy said that Omar and Tlaib should have joined the Israel tour last week with other members of Congress.

"The one thing that should’ve happened, they should’ve come with their colleagues," McCarthy said. "They should’ve come together where they can have a meeting with Israel, with the Palestinian Authority, with those who were running against [Netanyahu] at the same time."

EDITOR’S NOTE: I hope Israel sticks to its guns. Fuck Omar, Tlaib and the Democrats! And if that damages US-Israel relations, so be it.