By Israel Hayom—
Democratic members of the US Congress are weighing action against senior Israeli government officials and the Trump administration, following Jerusalem’s decision to bar Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (New York) from entering Israel.
Some 12 Democratic members of Congress, among them senior Jewish lawmakers, have begun talks on how to relay their “deep lack of confidence and trust” in Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
According to the mcclatchydc news site, the Democrats are considering releasing a statement of no confidence in Dermer and opening an investigation into Friedman’s conduct on the matter.
A senior congressional aide told the site the group was “reviewing all of our options. With Dermer, the issue is that there already was a severe lack of trust. But now there is a severe lack of confidence. It is completely unclear that he represents his government given he has made promises that he has not kept and wasn’t clear if he ever had any chance of keeping.”
Among the lawmakers involved in the talks are New York Representatives Eliot Engel, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Nita Lowey, chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee.
According to two sources in Congress, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland is also involved, although his spokeswoman has denied he is part of the talks. Following Israel’s decision to ban the lawmakers, Hoyer called the decision “deeply disappointing,” “unacceptable,” “disrespectful” and a “self-inflicted wound” to US-Israel ties.
