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US President Donald Trump, US Congressmen Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in an archive photo montage. REUTERS / File Photos

Democratic elected officials Rashida Tlaieb and Ilhan Omar are banned from entering Israel. Their schedule stipulated their intention to travel exclusively to the Palestinian Territories. The Israeli decision was obviously influenced by a call from the US president and could have consequences for relations between Israel and the US Democratic Party.

With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Michel Paul

It is the Israeli Ministry of Interior that has officially indicated that the two US parliamentarians will not be able to enter Israel. A decision that follows several days of debates on this visit by the two elected representatives of the House of Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib .

Israeli diplomacy had recommended allowing the visit. The flip-flop follows a call by US President Donald Trump. We are open to criticism, said Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, but not to the boycott.

" There is one thing the law does not allow us to do. We are not ready to receive in our country people who call for boycotting Israel, who are actually working to delegitimize the Jewish state, "said the Israeli prime minister.

So far, about 20 activists from the BDS boycott movement have been banned from entering Israel. But this is the first time that it is about members of the American Congress.

" That the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under the pressure of Donald Trump, refuses the entry (into Israel and the Palestinian Territories) of two representatives of the American State, represents an affront, " retorted Ilhan Omar.

For its part, the pro-Israel lobby Aipac, usually close to the Trump administration, has distanced itself from this decision: " Any member of Congress should be able to visit our democratic ally Israel to discover it. nobody. "

This decision, the majority of commentators believe, will have repercussions on the relations between Israel and the American Democrats. But she can only play for Netanyahu as part of the election campaign for next month's elections .