Ro Khanna Detained 90 Minutes By Armed Israeli Settlers Near Khirbet Zanuta

U.S. Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said he was detained for 90 minutes by armed Israeli settlers during a visit to the occupied West Bank, after his van was surrounded by settlers wielding M4 rifles near the Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta.

Khanna wrote on X that when the Israel Defense Forces arrived, "they sided with the settlers and continued our detention," and he said the settlers "block off the road" before calling the IDF.

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The Israeli military said troops and police officers intervened after receiving a report of settlers blocking vehicles, and it said that "Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way," while Khanna’s aide Cameron Kasky said the group was released after police intervened.

Khanna, who told Reuters he was considering running for president in 2028, described visiting an area where settlers had destroyed a school and said he was detained while looking at what the settlers had destroyed.

Khanna told Reuters that "hoodlums … with machine guns" detained his group, and he said the Israeli military was on the settlers’ side, while the BBC reported the IDF said it dispersed Israeli civilians and reopened the blocked road.

In a CNN interview, Khanna said he saw "young men brandishing M4s" circling the vans, and he described four IDF soldiers arriving and, in his account, siding with the settlers before his security person was told, "We don’t care that there’s an American in the car."

Al Jazeera

The IDF’s position was that its personnel did not take part in blocking the road, and it said "The IDF soldiers operating in the area did not take part in blocking the road," while CNN reported that four settlers were arrested after an attack on CNN and other journalists on Saturday.

The Hill reported that CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said, "If an American elected representative can be stopped, intimidated and prevented from traveling freely," then Palestinians endure the same without protection, as Khanna called on the Israeli government to prosecute the IDF soldiers and settlers.

The detention became part of a broader U.S. political debate over Israel and military aid, with NBC News reporting that U.S. support for Israel has emerged as a flashpoint in the midterm elections and that Democrats’ views have shifted.

NBC News said U.S. military aid amounts to $3.8 billion per year and includes funding for light weaponry like M4 rifles and missile interceptors, while it also reported that Israel’s favorability rating among Democrats fell from 59% in 2018 to 22% in May, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

In the same reporting, Khanna said, "If you’re unwilling to speak up for Palestinian human rights," then he argued a politician is "morally compromised," and he said his party’s establishment was "clueless about how much of a moral test Palestine, Gaza and Israel have become."

The Guardian also framed the episode as a first-hand view of what Palestinians face under occupation, quoting Khanna’s Reuters account that he saw "21- and 22-year-olds with guns, laughing that they had detained us," and it noted that the New York Times first reported his account on Saturday morning.