Israel approves US congresswoman's entry

The Democratic congresswoman was granted an approval to enter the country "for a humanitarian visit of her 90-year-old grandmother," Israel's Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said in a statement.

According to Deri, Tlaib, a supporter of the Palestinian-led BDS (boycotts, divestments, and sanctions against Israel) movement, has promised not to promote boycotts during her visit.

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli news site Ynet published a copy of a letter Tlaib had sent to Deri, requesting entry in order to visit her Palestinian family in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"I would like to request admittance to Israel in order to visit my relatives, and specifically my grandmother, who is in her 90s and lives in Beit Ur al-Fouqa," Tlaib wrote.

"This could be my last opportunity to see her. I will respect any restrictions and will not promote boycotts against Israel during my visit," she added.

On Thursday, Deri said he has decided to ban Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, another newly-elected US congresswoman known for her criticism of the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, from entering Israel.

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision was made following joint consultations, while expressing his support to the move.

The announcement came less than an hour after US President Donald Trump tweeted "it would show great weakness" if Israel allowed the two Democratic lawmakers to visit.

"They hate Israel and all Jewish people, and there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds," Trump said, calling the two congresswomen "a disgrace."

The move triggered criticism by lawmakers in the United States, Europe, and Israel.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the move a "sign of weakness" and "beneath the dignity" of Israel.

Israeli lawmaker Ayman Odeh, leader of the Arab-Jewish Joint List party, criticized the Israeli ban as "another desperate attempt to hide the reality from the world."

Writing on his Twitter account, he said that "a country with nothing to hide wouldn't have banned the entrance of two members of (US) Congress."

Israel seized the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war and has kept its control over these regions ever since, despite international criticism.

The Palestinians wish to build their future state along the 1967 pre-war border with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The BDS is a movement led by Palestinian non-governmental organizations to put pressure on Israel to end the occupation. Israel sees the movement as "anti-Semitism" and "a threat."