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Khanna detained in West Bank
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, accused the Israeli government and military of “lying” about his detention by armed settlers and Israeli soldiers during a recent visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, saying the incident occurred on Wednesday in the South Hebron hills near the village of Zanuta.
Khanna said settlers and soldiers blocked the path of his convoy, describing “violent settlers detain American citizens, including an American government official,” and he said the IDF “comes, four soldiers” who “tell our translator that they’re on the side of the settlers.”
He said the confrontation unfolded as his group toured Khirbet Zanuta, where he described “They destroyed the school, they destroyed that village,” and he said the delegation was detained for about 20 minutes before being blocked in.
The Guardian reported that Khanna’s account and video evidence were tied to the claim that Israelis have driven Palestinians from their homes in what Amnesty International calls a government-backed “ethnic cleansing campaign,” while the Jerusalem Post described the incident as lasting around an hour and said newly released video evidence emerged from both sides.
Netanyahu, Leiter dispute accounts
On NBC’s Meet the Press, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the incident by saying, “We're a country of laws, and people who break the law, we take them to court,” and he described vigilante effort as “delinquents” rather than the settler community.
In the same NBC reporting, Khanna disputed the Israeli Defense Forces’ account, saying, “The IDF is lying what happened was unprecedented they had violent settlers detain American citizens,” and he described settlers “brandishing M4’s kicking the tires of our van.”
The Guardian reported that Israel’s US-born ambassador to the US, Michael Leiter, accused Khanna of visiting as a political stunt and suggested the timing of the revelation was suspicious, saying, “To have this incident on Wednesday and wait to release it on Saturday.”
Leiter’s theory that Khanna shifted attention away from Graham Platner elicited an audible laugh from the Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan, while the Guardian also reported that Khanna replied on social media that “The Israeli government is lying to cover up for 4 IDF soldiers who aided violent settlers.”
Gaza war backdrop, US debate
The incident unfolded as Khanna tied the episode to the wider political debate in the United States over Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, saying his experience reinforced his thinking about “the genocide in Gaza” and “the apartheid in the West Bank.”
In the Palestine Chronicle account, Khanna said, “If you’re unwilling to speak up for Palestinian human rights, if you’re unwilling to speak up against the genocide in Gaza,” and he framed the detention as a “stark illustration of the realities faced daily by Palestinians living under occupation.”
The Guardian also tied the West Bank confrontation to a broader scrutiny of U.S. and Israeli conduct, noting Khanna’s claim that settlers were “connected to Yinon Levi” and that Netanyahu “needs to have an investigation on these violent settlers who are connected to Yinon Levi.”
In a separate West Asian report, the incident was described as renewing debate about the use of American weapons in the occupied Palestinian territories, and it cited a Reuters/Ipsos poll saying the share of Democrats expressing support for Israel fell from 59% in 2018 to only 22% in May as the war in Gaza continues.
