US Congressman Ro Khanna, a progressive House Democrat from California, has disclosed that he was detained by armed Israeli settlers during a recent visit to the Israel-occupied West Bank. Khanna described the incident as a stark, first-hand encounter with the realities faced by Palestinians living under occupation.
Speaking to Reuters on Thursday from a Palestinian village, Khanna recounted that the detention occurred the previous day while his delegation was visiting an area in the southern West Bank known for repeated attacks by Israeli settlers. He detailed how settlers, armed with US-made M4 rifles, surrounded the group’s van.
“We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed – they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it,” Khanna stated. He added, referring to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which receives partial funding from US military aid, “And these hoodlums … detain us. They block off the road. And then they call the IDF and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans.”
Khanna further expressed his dismay to Reuters, saying, “I saw the arrogance in the eyes of those settlers, 21- and 22-year-olds with guns, laughing that they had detained us, the arrogance of those young IDF soldiers that my tax dollars are funding – having no respect for the fact that they were detaining Americans, no respect that there was an American congressperson in that bus, and laughing when our translator told them that there are Americans there and the American embassy is concerned.”
Cameron Kasky, an aide to Khanna who was present during the incident, corroborated the account on X, writing, “The IDF showed up to back up the settlers, not the US congressman.” Khanna concluded that the encounter vividly illustrated “the arrogance of power – of a power that has had no accountability, total impunity – and it’s created a toxic culture of oppression.”
The New York Times first reported Khanna’s account on Saturday morning. He told the outlet that he “felt powerless in that situation, which is not an easy thing, as I have a lot of privilege in life. Imagine how people feel every day, Palestinians under the occupation, if they could make an American congressperson feel powerless for 90 minutes.”
Khanna and his group were eventually able to continue their journey after contacting the US embassy and Israeli police. The Israeli military confirmed to Reuters that troops and police responded to a report of settlers obstructing vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta, a Palestinian hamlet whose residents were forced to leave following violent settler raids after the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023.
The United Nations considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where over 700,000 Israelis reside, to be illegal. Israel has faced consistent criticism regarding violence and other actions by settlers in the territory. Since Israel took control of the West Bank in 1967, restrictions have hindered the territory’s economic development, intensifying significantly after the deadly 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, leading to nearly 300,000 Palestinians losing employment in the West Bank and Israel.
A June report by a UN independent international commission of inquiry concluded that “Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank.” Data from human rights organization Yesh Din indicates no Israeli has been indicted for the killing of a Palestinian since October 2023.
Khanna has been a prominent critic in the US Congress of the war in Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank, often clashing with his own party’s establishment. In May, he released a video criticizing the Democratic National Committee’s postmortem report on the party’s defeat in the 2024 presidential election for its omission of Gaza. In the video, Khanna stated, “As someone who campaigned in Michigan and Wisconsin, let me tell you – one of the reasons we lost is our blank check to Israel and [prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu while they committed genocide in Gaza. We must speak and confront hard truths if this party is to win” the 2028 presidential election.
When asked by Reuters if he intends to run for president, Khanna replied, “I’m strongly considering it. And I’m more resolved to consider it after this trip.”
