Israeli security officials denied US visas

The US refused to grant entrance visas to senior Israeli security officials, including Mossad and Shabak officers, Israeli newspaper Maariv revealed on Tuesday.

The paper reported a senior security officer saying he has visited the US tens of times, but recently, he was denied an entrance visa. This action forced him to cancel a work visit to Washington.

Senior officials in the Israeli security services, the newspaper said, recently discussed the issue.

Maariv said 25 senior officials in the Israeli army were denied visas, in addition to tens of Mossad and Shabak agents, who are serving in the US. They got only a one year visa and were forced to travel to Canada and stay there for several weeks before their visas were renewed.

A senior security official told the paper: “A number of officials did not get visas despite planning to discuss a weapons’ deal based on a strategic agreement signed between Washington and Tel-Aviv. The deal is now expected to be cancelled because officials were banned from entering the US.”

Another senior security official told the newspaper: “We do not know the reason behind the new American policy, but we are persuaded that the US is putting obstacles before Israeli security officials to undermine their entrance to its soil.”