Israel Bars Linda Sarsour From Entry Over Anti-Israel Activism

Israel has barred Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour from entering the country after Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli recommended blocking her planned visit.

The decision was announced Tuesday, ahead of what the ministry said was Sarsour’s planned arrival in early July. According to the ministry, the Population and Immigration Authority accepted the recommendation and blocked her entry.

The move is part of a wider Israeli policy against foreign activists accused of supporting boycotts and campaigns to isolate the state. Hebrew media reported that Avi Cohen Scali, the ministry’s director-general, recommended the ban under Amendment 40 to the Entry into Israel Law.

“Anyone who incites and fuels hatred against the State of Israel will not set foot in it. We will continue working to prevent hostile and antisemitic elements from entering the territory of the State of Israel,” Cohen Scali said, according to Hebrew reports.

Chikli said the decision reflected the policy he has set at the ministry since taking office.

“We continue to uncompromisingly implement the policy I have set out at the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism: Anyone who incites and supports boycotts against the State of Israel will bear the consequences and be boycotted themselves,” Chikli said.

The ministry described Sarsour as “one of the most prominent figures in the anti-Israel boycott movement in the U.S. and a leader of the violent pro-Hamas protests following October 7th.”

In a separate post on X, Chikli called Sarsour “a leading figure in the BDS movement and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), an organization whose factions openly celebrated the October 7 massacre.”

He also accused her of working against Israel through campus and corporate campaigns.

“She has incited students on American campuses, led campaigns to sabotage Microsoft’s defense contracts with the IDF, and specifically targeted Unit 8200,” Chikli wrote, referring to the Israeli military’s signals intelligence unit. “Her central goal is to isolate and weaken the Jewish state.”

Chikli added, “Sovereign nations protect their borders. Israel will no longer open its gates to those who work to destroy it.”

Sarsour responded in an Instagram post, saying Israel had barred her because of her “advocacy for justice and freedom for the Palestinian people.” She said she had planned to visit “Palestine” with her family, and denounced Israel as a “brutal apartheid regime.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the decision, saying Israel had blocked Sarsour from visiting family, friends and homeland. The group called on the U.S. government to defend the right of Americans to visit.

Sarsour is a Palestinian-American activist who co-founded and leads the Muslim advocacy group MPower Change. She gained national prominence as a co-chair of the Women’s March and has long been a prominent critic of Israel.

The decision came weeks after Israel also barred American YouTuber Tyler Oliveira from entering the country at Ben-Gurion Airport. Chikli said at the time that Oliveira, whose videos about Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities drew accusations of antisemitic incitement, had come to Israel with the “aim of spreading hatred.” Oliveira was denied entry after border questioning. 

Chikli said the decision was meant to send a message to activists who campaign against the state from abroad. “Whoever dedicates their life to isolating and harming Israel will not walk our streets. Period,” he wrote.