Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib hold news conference
Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib hold news conferenceReuters

Israel will allow congresswomen Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) to enter the country when they arrive for an official visit in a few weeks, Israel's Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer said on Friday, according to Haaretz.

"Out of respect for the US Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America, we would not deny entry to any member of Congress into Israel," said Dermer.

Dermer's comments came after several days of uncertainty, during which Israeli officials considered different reactions to the legislators' upcoming visit.

Omar told reporters on Wednesday that she will be visiting Israel and the Palestinian Authority and would be accompanied by Tlaib.

Israel could have prevented their entry in light of a 2017 law which allows Israeli officials to ban supporters of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Before the announcement of their visit to Israel, Omar and Tlaib introduced a pro-BDS resolution in the US House of Representatives.

Omar and Tlaib have been in the headlines this week following the criticism directed by President Donald Trump and two other congresswomen, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley.

Omar had previously come under fire after she suggested on Twitter that Republicans were attacking her at the behest of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. She subsequently issued a half-hearted apology before ultimately deleting the controversial tweets.

Tlaib claimed in an interview in May that Palestinian Arabs living in the British Mandate prior to the establishment of the State of Israel “provided” a safe haven to Jews after the Holocaust.

She has also backed BDS and, when asked in a past television interview whether she would vote against military aid to Israel when she goes to Congress, replied “absolutely.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)