Israel has decided to bar Reps Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, two two of Israel's sharpest critics in US Congress, from entering the country on Friday after fierce debates on the contentious matter involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and various ministers, Israel's deputy foreign minister said Thursday.
"The decision has been made [and] the decision is not to allow them to enter," Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told Israel's Reshet Radio, Reuters reported. Israel decided to ban the freshman lawmakers in response to their support for the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
BDS seeks to put economic pressure on Israel to recognize the movement's demands, which include equal rights for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel and the country's withdrawal from the occupied territories.
Under Israeli law, supporters of the movement can be denied entry to the country. The decision to bar the congresswomen comes after Israel's ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, said last month that Omar and Tlaib would be allowed to visit.
"Out of respect for the U.S. Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America, we would not deny entry to any member of Congress into Israel," he said.
President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that it would show "great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib to visit.""Minnesota and Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office," he wrote. "They are a disgrace!"
Neither Omar nor Tlaib immediately responded to a request for comment.
Last year, Omar and Tlaib became the first Muslim women elected to Congress. Tlaib, an American of Palestinian heritage, has family in the West Bank. If she made a special humanitarian request to visit her family, it would be considered "favorably," a senior Israeli government official told The Washington Post.
The two congresswomen have been criticized roundly by Republicans, as well as some members of their own party, for speaking out against America's relationship with Israel. Some Republicans, including Trump, have accused them of being anti-Semitic, though Omar and Tlaib have made clear they take issue with the Israeli government ? not with Jewish people.
Omar and Tlaib have not formally announced a date for their proposed trip. It could begin as early as this weekend, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the planned visit.