US refuses to grant visa to Israeli MK

Israel's Knesset speaker canceled a visit of members to the United States following Washington's refusal to grant a visa to Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari. Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin decided to cancel the visit of a delegation of Knesset members to the Us Congress at the end of the month after the U.S. State Department refused to grant a visa to Ben-Ari, a student of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, The Jerusalem Post said. Ben-Ari considers himself one of Kahane's disciples, the newspaper said. Israel banned Kahane's Kach party in 1988 for racism and the Us State Department declared the party a terrorist organization in 1994. "The Us claim that an MK is a terrorist is unacceptable and disrespects the entire Knesset," the paper quoted Rivlin saying. Rivlin also wrote a letter to US Ambassador Dan Shapira criticizing the move, saying Ben-Ari is an elected public official. Knesset members had been scheduled to attend a female empowerment conference attended by female members of Congress at the Israeli embassy in Washington at the end of the month, the paper said.