Shawdesh Desk:

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday barred US Democratic congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from making a planned trip to Israel, shortly after US president Donald Trump called on his ally not to let them in.

Tlaib and Omar, the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, are members of their party’s progressive wing and sharp critics both of Trump and of Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians.

The moves, which were immediately condemned by many Democratic leaders in the United States as well as Palestinians, could help whip up support among Trump and Netanyahu’s conservative voter bases as they head into election campaigns.

Israel holds a national election on Sept. 17 and Trump faces re-election in November 2020.

Tlaib and Omar have voiced support for the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement over Israel’s policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Under Israeli law, BDS backers can be denied entry to Israel.

Omar called Thursday’s decision an ‘affront’ and ‘an insult to democratic values.’

Israel had initially chosen to allow the visit. A source who took part in consultations Netanyahu held with cabinet members and advisers on Wednesday told Reuters that Israel backtracked due to pressure from Trump. The pressure was reported by the Axios news site on Saturday but denied by the White House.

In a tweet on Thursday, Trump wrote: ‘It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib to visit … They are a disgrace!’

Asked if he had spoken to Netanyahu about the planned visit, Trump told reporters: ‘I don’t want to comment about who I spoke to, but I think my social media statement pretty well speaks for itself.’ ‘But I did speak to people over there,’ he added.

Trump has in recent months accused Tlaib, Omar and two other first-term Democratic congresswomen of colour – dubbed ‘the Squad’ – of hostility to Israel in a barrage condemned by critics as racist and widely seen as a way to drum up votes for 2020.

Omar is a favourite target. At a recent rally in North Carolina, supporters chanted ‘send her back’ after Trump falsely accused her of supporting al Qaeda.

The 37-year-old lawmaker who represents a Minnesota congressional district immigrated to the United States from Somalia as a child. US-born Tlaib, 43, has roots in the West Bank.

Netanyahu said that Israel had the utmost respect for Congress but that Tlaib and Omar were promoting legislation calling for boycotts against Israel.

Tlaib’s grandmother and extended family live in the Palestinian village of Beit Ur Al-Fauqa.

‘We were surprised today that they banned Rashida. It is unfair and racist that they banned her from visiting her country Palestine and her family in Palestine,’ said her uncle, Bassam Tlaib.

Netanyahu said that if Tlaib submitted a request to visit family on humanitarian grounds, Israel would consider it as long as she promised not to promote a boycott against Israel.