Updated Aug. 16, 2019, 9:50 a.m.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., says she's canceling her visit to Israel and the West Bank.
Israel's interior ministry announced Friday that it would allow Tlaib to enter the country as a private citizen to visit her aging grandmother, after it banned her and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from going on a political trip amid pressure from President Trump.
In a statement Friday morning, Tlaib said that she "decided to not travel to Palestine and Israel at this time. Visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions meant to humiliate me would break my grandmother's heart."
Israel's shift regarding Tlaib, whose parents are Palestinian immigrants to the U.S. and who has close relatives in the West Bank, came hours after Israel banned her and fellow Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., apparently in response to pressure from Trump, who tweeted that the two hated "Israel & all Jewish people" and that Israel "would show great weakness" by letting them visit.
On Friday, however, Israel's interior ministry said Minister Aryeh Deri had decided to allow Tlaib to conduct a "humanitarian visit" to her 90-year-old grandmother. According to the statement, Tlaib sent a letter to Deri accepting conditions and limits on her visit and promising not to advance boycotts against Israel while she is there.
There was no word on whether Israel had changed its position on Omar, a Somali-born American. She had been scheduled to arrive on Saturday in Israel, where she and Tlaib planned to tour the West Bank and visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Original Post Aug. 15, 2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has banned two Democratic U.S. congresswomen from visiting the country and the Palestinian territories this weekend, according to a government official.
Israeli radio reported that in an interview, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said the country would bar entry to "those who reject our right to exist in the world."
The move, which marks a reversal for Netanyahu and his government, comes after President Trump publicly urged the Israeli leader on Twitter to block Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., saying it would be showing "weakness" if they were allowed to visit.
"It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib to visit. 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!" Trump tweeted.