Omar Calls on Colleagues to Visit Israel

ST. PAUL (AP) — Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is calling on other members of Congress to visit Israel while she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib cannot.

Israel last week blocked the two Democratic House members from a planned trip to that country over their support for a Palestinian-led boycott movement.

At a news conference in Minnesota, Omar says she and Tlaib are being prevented from carrying out their duties as members of Congress.

She is calling on her colleagues to "meet with the people we were going to meet with, see the things we were going to see, hear the stories we were going to hear."

Omar says President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot succeed "in hiding the cruel reality of the occupation from us."