Biden administration grants US visa to extremist Israeli minister

The US state department gave Smotrich a diplomatic visa to speak at an investment conference in Washington DC on Sunday, and for meetings with the International Monetary Fund, after concluding that it would be highly unusual to refuse one to a member of the government of a close ally. But the White House said no US officials will meet him or attend the conference.

The signatories included three former US ambassadors to Israel, Jewish religious leaders and former heads of pro-Israel groups.

Their statement compared the minister to the American-born Israeli rabbi and convicted terrorist, Meir Kahane, who founded the extremist and racist political party, Kach.

The attack on Hawara followed the shooting dead of two brothers from a nearby settlement earlier in the day which in turn came after the Israeli military killed Palestinian fighters and civilians in West Bank raids.

The Israeli finance minister criticised the settlers for taking matters into their own hands but said the military should act instead.

The US visa was issued after Smotrich apologised for the comments in a Facebook post on Wednesday. The minister said a friend in the Israeli air force had warned him that pilots were interpreting his remarks to mean that they might be ordered to destroy Hawara.

The apology was met with scepticism by his critics who plan to demonstrate at the Washington hotel where he will be speaking at a conference to promote investment in Israeli government bonds.

The advocacy group Dawn, founded by the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi to promote democracy and human rights in the Middle East, said the Biden administration could have refused it on several grounds used to block visits by officials from other countries.

The US has also refused entry to other Israeli extremists including a member of the Knesset, Michael Ben Ari, in 2012, probably for his ties to the Kach movement.