The Tlaib-Omar affair takes place in an already troubled climate in which many are concerned over the future of Israel’s relations with left-leaning Democratic Party
It was a dramatic week in United States-Israel relations, one that will be remembered for many years to come.
A month ago, we wrote here that Israel was confronted with two bad choices — either bar the entry of radical BDS-supporting congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar into Israel or permit their visit and suffer the public relations consequences. At the time, the Israeli government decided on the less bad of the two options, allowing them to visit.
But all that changed in a moment last week, after President Trump tweeted that Israel would demonstrate weakness if it allowed the two freshman lawmakers to visit. Hours later, Netanyahu reversed his decision, citing a 2017 Israeli law that denies entry to supporters of the BDS movement.
Israel then offered Tlaib, a congresswoman from Detroit, the opportunity to visit her elderly grandmother (who lives in Beit Ur Al-Faqua, not far from Modiin), on humanitarian grounds. Tlaib initially agreed, even committing not to promote BDS while on the visit, but soon thereafter reversed course, saying she would not submit to Israel’s “humiliating terms.”
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