|
No
date has been formally announced for the trip, but sources
familiar with the planned visit said it could begin at the
weekend.
Tlaib and Omar, the first two Muslim women elected to Congress
and a flank of the Democratic party's progressive wing, have
voiced support for the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment,
Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Under Israeli law, backers of the movement can be denied entry
to Israel. But Israel's ambassador in the United States, Ron
Dermer, said last month they would be let in, out of respect for
the U.S. Congress and the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
An Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
other senior members of his cabinet held consultations on
Wednesday on a "final decision" about the visit.
Denying entry to elected U.S. officials could further strain
relations between Netanyahu, who has highlighted his close ties
with U.S. President Donald Trump in his current re-election
campaign, and the Democratic leadership in Congress.
"The possibility exists that Israel will not allow the visit in
its current form. Professional and legal teams in the government
ministries are continuing to examine the material," the official
said.
Approval of the trip is still pending in the House of
Representatives Ethics Committee, which would examine its
itinerary, according to sources involved in planning the visit.
A planned tour by the two lawmakers of the holy compound in
Jerusalem that houses al-Aqsa mosque, and which is revered by
Jews as the site of two biblical Jewish temples, has turned into
an issue of contention.
The flashpoint site is in an area of Jerusalem that Israel
captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war
and annexed in a move not recognized internationally.
"To make sure there's apparent Israeli sovereignty over the
site, they'll demand Israeli police go in with them, and not
just the Waqf officials," said one of the sources with knowledge
of the planned visit, referring to Muslim religious authorities.
An official in Israel's internal security ministry said any
visit by Tlaib and Omar to the complex, revered by Muslims as
the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount, would
require Israeli security protection.
Violence erupted there on Sunday between Israeli police and
Palestinians amid tensions over visits by Jewish pilgrims on a
day when the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and the Jewish fast
day of Tisha B'Av overlapped.
Tlaib, 43, who was born in the United States, draws her roots to
the Palestinian village of Beit Ur Al-Fauqa in the West Bank.
Her grandmother and extended family live in the village.
Ilhan Omar, who immigrated to the United States from Somalia as
a child, represents Minnesota's fifth congressional district.
In February, Omar, 37, apologized after Democratic leaders
condemned remarks she made about the pro-Israel lobby in the
United States as using anti-Semitic stereotypes.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub and Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Hugh
Lawson)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
