Anti-Israel UK Labour MPs barred from entering Israel after airport interrogations
Government says Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang planned to ‘document Israeli security forces and spread hateful rhetoric’; British FM Lammy calls deportation ‘unacceptable’
Two British parliament members who support anti-Israel policies were stopped at Ben Gurion Airport and denied entry to Israel on Saturday, sparking condemnation from London.
The Labour Party MPs, Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, were barred entry after questioning revealed that the purpose of their visit was “to document Israeli security forces and spread hateful rhetoric against Israel,” the Interior Ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority said in a statement.
Mohamed and Yang landed in Israel at 2:30 p.m. on a flight from Luton, England, along with two of their aides.
While being interrogated, the two MPs — who both call for boycotting Israel — claimed to arrive as part of an official delegation on behalf of the UK parliament, but the claim was found to be false as no Israeli entity had verified the arrival of such a delegation, the population authority said.
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, therefore, decided to deny entry to all four individuals “in accordance with the law and ordered their removal from Israel,” according to the statement.
Britain’s top diplomat condemned the decision.
????BREAKING: Israel just told two antisemitic UK Labour MPs to KICK ROCKS.
Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were DENIED ENTRY into the Jewish state because they’re a security threat.
Israel is DONE playing nice with those who side with terrorists. No more red carpets for people who… pic.twitter.com/3M2D9fizzV
— Jews Fight Back ???????????????? (@JewsFightBack) April 5, 2025
“It is unacceptable, counterproductive and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement.
“I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support,” Lammy continued.
“The UK government’s focus remains on securing a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza,” he further added.
Since renewed military operations last month ended a short-lived truce in its war with the Hamas terror group, Israel has pushed to seize territory in the Gaza Strip in what it says is a strategy to force the Palestinian terrorists to free hostages still in captivity.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023, when they also killed some 1,200 people, sparking the war. The remaining hostages include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
AFP contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.