U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson calls on Israel to let Muslim congresswomen into country

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., is calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reconsider a decision to block two Democratic — and Muslim — members of Congress from entering his country.

News broke Thursday that Israel would not let U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn enter the country.

CNN reported that Israel announced its decision to block the congresswomen from entering the country after the move was encouraged by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The plan of the two congresswomen is only to damage Israel and to foment against Israel,” Netanyahu said, according to a CNN report.

In response to Israel’s decision, Johnson said the move to ban Omar and Tlaib from entering Israel showed “great weakness and lack of respect for democratic ideals.”

“Banning duly elected members of Congress from entering Israel in route to Palestine all while they seek continued military assistance from the U.S. is unconscionable,” Johnson said in a statement. “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must have forgotten the democracy memo — in an open and free society just because someone is critical of you it doesn’t give you the right to curtail their rights. This is a dangerous precedent, and I urge Bibi to reconsider.”