Left to right: Reps Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar
Left to right: Reps Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, OmarReuters

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein and ZOA Chairman Mark Levenson, Esq. on Friday responded to Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri's (Shas) decision to allow Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a BDS supporter, into Israel to visit her grandmother.

In a statement, the two wrote: "The Zionist Organization of America strongly supports Israel's decision to refuse entry of Israelophobic Jew-haters Rep Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar into Israel. Tlaib and Omar seek Israel's destruction, and are leading promoters of anti-Jewish anti-Israel boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS). They even outrageously compare boycotting Israel to boycotting Nazis."

"Israeli laws refusing entry to anti-Israel boycott leaders surely should apply to Tlaib and Omar.

"The Israeli Supreme Court recognized that boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) is a dangerous 'massive delegitimization campaign' facing Israel, and recognized the need to take steps to counteract this. Israeli Supreme Court Justice Hanan Melzer accurately described BDS as 'political terrorism.' Israel should not allow political terrorists into the country.

"Israel should not enable a visit that will give Tlaib and Omar opportunities to propagandize for Israel's destruction, incite anti-Jewish violence, and perhaps even use the visit for other nefarious purposes – such as carrying messages to and from terrorists whom they associate with.

"Rep. Tlaib has invited to her swearing-in Hezbollah supporters and taken pictured with them and convicted Jew killer Rasmeah Odeh; wants to cut all aid to Israel; lied, claiming Arabs 'provided a safe haven for Jews' after the Holocaust; deleted Israel from her office map; and has written for Farrakhan's newspaper.

"Rep. Omar accuses Jews of bribing Congress to support Israel; showed sympathy to ISIS; called Israel 'Apartheid State;' called Israel 'evil' & and 'hypnotized' the world; and described 9-11 as 'some people who did something'; wouldn’t answer if she supported Al Qaeda; and supports murderous dictator Communist Venezuela’s Maduro.

"Refusing entry to Tlaib and Omar will moreover protect Jews and others in America and around the world. The BDS that Tlaib and Omar promotes harms Jews on American campuses, and regular American businesses. Tlaib and Omar should not be given the opportunity to further delegitimize and harm all of us."

Farley Weiss, President of the National Council of Young Israel, responded: "Israel's decision to prohibit Reps. Omar and Tlaib from entering the country is wholly appropriate in light of their barefaced support for the anti-Semitic BDS movement. Their perpetual promotion of anti-Semitic sentiments and their troubling track record of advancing anti-Israel ideals are reprehensible, and we fully support Israel's determination that barring their entry is prudent and necessary."
"The sole purpose of this propaganda-laden trip was to portray Israel in a negative light, and the purposeful marginalization by Reps. Omar and Tlaib of Israeli officials during their excursion was a blatant attempt to disrespect and disregard the democratically elected government of a critical ally of the United States. Israel is under no obligation to provide a public platform to individuals who relish the opportunity to defame her, and is absolutely within its right to take steps to prevent incitement by hate-mongers who endorse a movement whose primary objective is to undermine Israel and advocate for its destruction through economic, social and political means.
"Israeli law specifically empowers the government to prohibit entry to foreign activists who champion a boycott of Israel, and Reps. Omar and Tlaib, who openly and proudly support the BDS movement, unquestionably meet that statutory-based criteria. Regardless of whether they are Members of Congress or private citizens, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib categorically defend and promote a boycott that is rooted in anti-Semitism, and they should not have license to travel to Israel freely so that they could further propagate their deleterious racist rhetoric."

Tlaib has since decided not to visit her grandmother, claiming that Israel's "oppressive" conditions would "kill a piece" of her.