
Lev HaOlam founder and Director Attorney Nati Rom today sent a letter the Interior Minister Aryeh Deri asking that the Minister exercise his authority to bar Iceland's Eurovision contestant for active Israel boycott support.
"According to various reports," Rom wrote, "the Hatari band, which will represent Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest, supports the boycott of Israel and works for it. In an interview published in the last Sheva Yamim supplement (25.4.2019), band members claimed that 'the goals of the boycott movement are legitimate, as is its tactic to oppose Israel by nonviolent means.'

"The Entry into Israel Law (Amendment No. 28), 5767 - 2017 states that a person who is not an Israeli citizen or a permanent resident of the State of Israel shall not be granted a visa and residence permit of any kind, if he, or the organization or body for whom he is acting, calls for a boycott of the State of Israel or has undertaken to participate in such a boycott.
"As one whose organization is constantly fighting the global BDS movement, I ask you to exercise the authority vested in you to prohibit the band members from entering Israel. This will send a message to Israel boycotters around the world that hatred of Israel and anti-Semitism have a cost," concluded Rom.
Minister Deri's office did not immediately respond to Rom's letter or a query by Arutz Sheva.

