The US State Department denied the reported allegation that it was behind the cancelation of a NASA scientist’s trip to Israel on Monday because of the ongoing reaction to judicial reform, TheAlgemeiner reported.
NASA astrophysicist Dr. Amber Straughn had been set to attend the Israel Physical Society’s annual conference in Israel at the start of this week. But, according to a report in Haaretz, she canceled her trip to the scientific gathering after being ordered to do so by the State Department.
Straughn, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the deputy project scientist for James Webb Space Telescope Science Communication, wrote in a since-deleted tweet that her trip’s authorization had been “revoked” on March 27. However, she did not state who had given the order.
When a user reportedly asked her if it was “because of all the unrest and protests going on there,” she replied that it was.
Bar-Ilan University physicist Professor Jonathan Ruhman, who organized the conference, told The Algemeiner that Straughn had told him the State Department was behind the move to stop her trip.
“Her exact words were that the State Department revoked her travel permit. She did not provide an explanation,” he said. “We were really sad she had to cancel.”
But the State Department is denying it was involved in revoking her travel permit.