Israel bars U.S. citizens over criticism and ties to Palestinian activists, lawyers say

Travelers arrive at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 5. Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua via Getty Images hide caption

RAMALLAH, West Bank — U.S. and other international travelers are increasingly being denied entry to Israel following interrogations about their connections to Palestinians, plans to visit the occupied West Bank and opinions of Israel, their lawyers say.

In August alone, Israel denied entry to a group of U.S. and other international comedians invited to perform for a Palestinian comedy festival, as well as to a U.S. multifaith delegation seeking to tour the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jerusalem with a Palestinian Christian organization.

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Entry denials have risen sharply over the past year and for reasons that did not constitute grounds for denial previously, including suspicions of anti-Israel views, say Israeli lawyers who represent travelers who were denied entry.

"It's a tremendous change," said lawyer Adi Lustigman. "It's been like almost daily or at least weekly that we receive complaints by people denied entrance to Israel."

A Palestinian audience gathers in Bethlehem to see comedians from the U.S. and other countries perform live on Zoom after Israel refused to let the comics enter the country to participate in the Palestine Comedy Festival in the West Bank in August. Amer Zahr hide caption

In a statement, the Israeli Interior Ministry said it was unaware of the claims of an entry-ban phenomenon and said all travelers face the same rules.

Israel's Interior Ministry told NPR that since 2025, it has denied more than 21,000 requests for an electronic travel authorization, a pretravel screening that Israel requires for visitors from the U.S., Canada, the European Union and visa-exempt countries.

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The U.S. State Department defended Israeli entry denials, telling NPR in a statement that they are "consistent with the uniform application of Israeli law as part of Israel's ongoing efforts to protect against potential security threats."

The Trump administration has also deported non-U.S. citizens for pro-Palestinian activism on U.S. college campuses and for speech criticizing Israel's war in Gaza. Federal judges in Massachusetts and California have ruled these deportations to be unconstitutional.

U.S. comedians were banned from entering Israel

In early August, Los Angeles comedian Ahmed Al-kadri and five other comedians from the U.S., Canada and New Zealand landed in Israel to perform for the annual Palestine Comedy Festival in the West Bank. All but one were denied entry.

In a video posted on social media , Al-kadri recounted his interrogation by an Israeli border agent at the Tel Aviv airport.

A post shared by Ahmed Al-kadri (@ahmedlovesbread)

"I was like, 'We're just comics who are going to Palestine, doing comedy for people who really need a laugh, spreading joy,'" Al-kadri said. "He goes, 'But you say anti-Israel stuff.' I'm like, 'No, we don't. I tell poo-poo and pee-pee jokes.'"

The comics were held in a detention facility at the airport before being deported. After returning home, they performed on Zoom before live audiences in the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.

It's the first time since the Palestine Comedy Festival was founded in 2015, with U.S. Consulate sponsorship, that Israel has banned international comics from performing at the festival in person, said Palestinian American comedian Amer Zahr, who runs the comedy festival. The comics all held Israeli pretravel authorizations.

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"We're part of a pattern. I've heard of many other delegations being turned away. I think they're interested in letting foreigners know, like, don't try to come here," said Zahr. "This government is interested in cutting Palestinians off from the world."

Jewish American activists have been deported after protecting Palestinians

After years of Israeli entry bans discriminating against Arab Americans, Israel pledged in July 2023 to treat all U.S. visitors equally in exchange for the U.S. allowing visa-free entry to Israeli visitors.

Since the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, bans on U.S. and other international visitors have been on the rise and not just targeting those of Arab descent, Israeli lawyers say.

In 2024, Israel began concerted efforts to deport international volunteers, including Jewish Americans , and ban them from returning to the country for taking part in what activists call " protective presence " activities, a nonviolent method of protecting Palestinians from Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.

The Israeli government issued this document to participants of a multifaith group denied entry to Israel in August. The participant's personal details are blacked out to protect their identity. Ed Phillips hide caption

In 2025, Israel passed legislation banning entry to anyone who denies the Oct. 7 attacks or calls for Israeli soldiers to be prosecuted in international court. Israel also bans visitors who call for a boycott of the country.

In August, Israel blocked two European Parliament members from a left-wing Swedish party from visiting the West Bank, saying they called for international prosecution of Israel and accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, which Israel strongly denies.

Banning entry to visitors for reasons not seen before

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In a West Bank cave, Israelis and Palestinians hold an out-of-the-ordinary lunch

Israeli entry denials have risen sharply in the past year, said Lustigman, the lawyer, for reasons including being part of an organized tour of the West Bank, having the numbers of Palestinian activists in their phones or not having active social media accounts.

"They were denied entrance for the suspicions that they might have deleted their social media before entering Israel," Lustigman said.

Interrogators frequently ask international travelers about their opinion of the Oct. 7 attacks, said Yotam Ben-Hillel, an Israeli lawyer who represents deported U.S. and other international travelers.

"It's very common almost in every interrogation to ask about: 'Do you support Hamas? Do you think what happened in Oct. 7 was good?' They're afraid. They don't know what to answer. If, for instance, they said something at the beginning, and then they said something a little bit different, this itself is a ground to deny someone's entry into the country," Ben-Hillel said.

A U.S. multifaith delegation to the West Bank and Jerusalem led by the Rev. Ed Phillips (middle row, right), a Methodist minister, poses for a photo in Jordan. Israeli border agents at the Jordan-Israel border refused entry to the group. Ed Phillips hide caption

Bans can last five to 10 years, and some have been successfully overturned in court, lawyers say.

A group led by a Methodist minister was banned from entering Israel

In August, Israel also banned entry to the 13 members of a U.S. multifaith delegation , led by a Methodist minister, that was planning to tour the West Bank and Jerusalem with a Palestinian Christian organization. Tour participants described an aggressive interrogation by an Israeli border agent.

"She said, 'You're here to see what we're doing to the Palestinian people,'" said participant David Small.

"To the Israeli agent's point, we are concerned about what is happening to the Palestinian people," said another participant, Kaleb Drew.

Sabeel, the Palestinian Christian organization, said it was the first time that one of its international delegations had been denied entry to the country.

The head of the organization, Omar Harami, said he contacted the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who promised to look into it.

Neither the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem nor the State Department would comment on the incident. The State Department said in a statement, "The U.S. government seeks equal treatment and freedom of travel for all U.S. citizens regardless of national origin, religion, or ethnicity."

The U.S. multifaith group is still banned from entering Israel.

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