Legal NGO seeking to bar Ilhan Omar from entering Israel

AN Israeli legal NGO has filed a motion at the Jerusalem District Court seeking to prevent US congresswoman Ilhan Omar from entering Israel, according to the Ynet news site.

Shurat HaDin is demanding that Interior Minister Aryeh Deri bar Omar from visiting the country due to her support for the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel.

Under a controversial law that Israel enacted in 2017, the state can prohibit any foreigner from entering the country who “knowingly issues a public call for boycotting Israel.”

But last week, Israel’s US Ambassador Ron Dermer told The Times of Israel that Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib would be allowed to visit despite their BDS support “out of respect for the US Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America.”