By kowtowing to Trump over Omar and Tlaib, Netanyahu has severely damaged his brand in Israel

Israel has enjoyed decades of bipartisan support in the US. By clearly siding against Democrats, the prime minister is jeopardising that consensus

Being Trump’s ‘lackey’ shows weakness – from the outside at least it looks like Trump tweets, Netanyahu obeys (Getty)

Have Benjamin Netanyahu and those in his administration just made the biggest miscalculation of their careers?

Across the political divide (and the world) there has been uproar at Israel banning Democrat congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the country, over the alleged “boycott activities” enshrined in their trip to the Palestinian territories.

This was largely fuelled by the fact the decision followed an extraordinary tweet from Donald Trump urging the country not to “show great weakness” and let them in. The usual voices like the Palestinian leadership and Arab-Israeli parliamentarians weighed in – yet criticism of the decision also came from quarters you would not expect.