Ilhan Omar Fires Back At Israeli PM Netanyahu: His Claims About Our Visit ‘Are Not True’

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) fired back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a long Twitter thread Friday, accusing the Israeli leader who banned her from visiting of lying.

Beginning the thread, Omar said her visit would have been focused on meeting with Palestinians, but added Netanyahu was not telling the truth when he said she wasn’t going to meet with Israeli officials.

Let’s be clear: the goal of our trip was to witness firsthand what is happening on the ground in Palestine and hear from stakeholders —our job as Members of Congress.

But since we were unable to fulfill our role as legislators, I am sharing what we would have seen. (THREAD)

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 16, 2019

First, I planned to hold meetings with members of the Knesset (both Jewish and Arab) along with Israeli security officials.

The claims of @IsraeliPM otherwise are not true.

As a delegation, we were also were scheduling a meeting with @USAmbIsrael. https://t.co/tazkSiUYkM

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 16, 2019

Omar went on to cite a number of articles to talk about her plan to visit occupied areas of the region, like the Gaza Strip.

As many of my colleagues have stated in the last 24 hours, we give Israel more than $3 billion in aid every year. This is predicated on their being an important ally in the region, and the ‘only democracy’ in the Middle East.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 16, 2019

Denying visits to duly elected Members of Congress is not consistent with being either an ally or a democracy. We should be leveraging that aid to stop the settlements and ensure full rights for Palestinians.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 16, 2019

“Denying visits to duly elected Members of Congress is not consistent with being either an ally or a democracy,” Omar said.

[Image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images]