Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Thursday responded to news that she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib would be barred from entering Israel after President Trump urged the country to keep them out.
In short, she called the decision an implementation of President Trump’s Muslim ban in Israel. She called out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his past efforts to curb public information about the brutality of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and for aligning himself with “Islamophobes like Donald Trump.”
“The irony of the ‘only democracy’ in the Middle East making such a decision is that it is both an insult to democratic values and a chilling response to a visit by government officials from an allied nation,” she said.
Tlaib’s office did not immediately return TPM’s request for comment. The two lawmakers were planning to visit the West Bank beginning Sunday with an organization headed by a Palestinian lawmaker. Trump has urged Netanyahu, both publicly and privately, to not allow the congresswomen — whom he has picked a personal feud with — into the nation.
It is an affront that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, under pressure from President Trump, would deny entry to representatives of the U.S. government.
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/v00ESmehXT
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) August 15, 2019
