Israel’s Minister for the Interior, Ariyeh Deri, decided not to allow the two Democratic representatives, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to enter Israel, on legal grounds. Israel’s No Entry law bars BDS activists from entering the country. After the decision was made, Tlaib appealed to Deri to visit her grandmother. On humanitarian grounds, Deri agreed, as long as Tlaib would sign a statement promising to refrain from activity that harms the Jewish State.
Tlaib agreed, signed, and then backtracked, which proved to Ariyeh Deri, at least, that her motive had never been that of a filial granddaughter, but as someone who uses her grandmother cynically, as a weapon against the State of Israel.
I approved her request as a gesture of goodwill on a humanitarian basis, but it was just a provocative request, aimed at bashing the State of Israel. Apparently her hate for Israel overcomes her love for her grandmother.@realDonaldTrump @RashidaTlaib
— אריה מכלוף דרעי (@ariyederi) August 16, 2019
This led at least one commentator to paraphrase late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir: “When they love their grandmas more than they hate Israel, peace might come.”