Israel planning for Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib visit to Temple Mount

Tlaib, D-Mich., is visiting Israel next week, and Omar, D-Minn., is reportedly joining.

By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN/JTA
Palestinians pray on the first Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2019. (photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
Palestinians pray on the first Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2019.
(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)

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.

If Omar and Tlaib visit the holy site, Israeli officials do not want them to do so alongside Palestinian Authority officials, as it could be seen as backing Palestinian claims to the site, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 13.

The Muslim congresswomen have been vocal in their criticism of Israel. They have both been accused of occasionally relying on antisemitic tropes in their criticism of the Jewish state.

The Temple Mount is sacred to both Jews and Muslims, who refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary. 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 make religious displays.