Posted on 08/14/19
| News Source: Vosizneais
Jerusalem - Israel is planning for the possibility that Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib will visit the Temple Mount.
Tlaib, D-Mich., is visiting Israel next week, and Omar, D-Minn., is reportedly joining, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The Times of Israel cited a report by Israel’s Channel 13 that said Israeli officials held a meeting where they said that if Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, and Omar, who was born in Somalia, visit the Jerusalem site, they should not do so alongside Palestinian Authority officials, as it could be seen as backing Palestinian claims to the site.
The Muslim congresswomen have been vocal in their criticism of Israel. They have both been accused of occasionally relying on anti-Semitic tropes in their criticism of the Jewish state.
The Temple Mount is sacred to both Jews and Muslims. Israel controls the site but imposes restrictions on entry which are frequently a point of tension. Non-Muslims are only currently allowed to visit the site at specified times through one entryway and cannot show religious displays.