The Foreign Service Journal, October 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2019 15 between Israel and America,” The Wash- ington Post reported Aug. 15. In announcing the ban, Prime Min- ister Netanyahu said that all members of Congress are welcome to visit, with the exception of those who support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions move- ment against Israel over its alleged failure to uphold international law vis-à-vis the Palestinians. U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Fried- man supported the move. “The United States supports and respects the decision of the Government of Israel to deny entry to the Tlaib/Omar Delegation,” he said in an Aug. 15 statement. “Like the United States, Israel is a nation of laws. We support Israel’s application of its laws in this case.” Reaction in the U.S. Congress was swift. “The decision of the Israeli govern- ment to deny entry to Israel by two Mem- bers of Congress is outrageous, regardless of their itinerary or their views,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), one of Israel’s staunchest supporters in Congress, said in an Aug. 15 statement. “I call on the Prime Minister to reconsider this decision and ensure that all Members of Congress who wish to visit Israel and/or the West Bank will be received with the proper respect and recognition they are due.” Democrats were outraged by the president’s tweet and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision, and some analysts argued that the Trump and Netanyahu administrations were turning the U.S.- Israeli relationship into a wedge issue in American politics. “What a bulldozer to drive through the bipartisan consensus on Israel. What a gift to the BDS movement, which until now, most Americans had never heard of,” former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro wrote in an Aug. 15 article for The Atlantic website. “What a self-own.”