Rights groups condemn the detention of U.S. Representative Ro Khanna by armed Israeli settlers, as Israel and its allies launch political attacks aimed at discrediting the progressive lawmaker.
Israeli officials have indicated they will not apologize to Khanna or hold the settlers accountable. Instead, several have taken an offensive stance against the congressman.
Khanna said he was traveling to a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday when armed settlers stopped his van for about 20 minutes. Israeli soldiers later joined the settlers in blocking the road.
The encounter lasted over an hour, according to Khanna, and ended only after he contacted the U.S. embassy in Israel.
On Sunday, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Leiter, suggested that Khanna was responsible for the mistreatment, claiming the California Democrat failed to coordinate his trip with the Israeli government.
“He decided to coordinate his trip not with Israel, but with Palestinian activists and with J Street,” Leiter told CBS News, referencing the Jewish nonprofit.
Leiter further alleged, without evidence, that Khanna may have timed the release of his video of the incident to distract from his support of politician Graham Platner. Platner withdrew from the Maine Senate race amid sexual‑misconduct allegations. Khanna posted his video on Saturday.
“Maybe this had more something to do with his support of Graham Platner beforehand and the difficulties he had with that, and trying to shift the focus to something else. Perhaps? I’m asking a question,” Leiter said.
Khanna Responds
The Israeli military has disputed Khanna’s account, stating that it “dispersed” civilians blocking the road. In a Sunday appearance on NBC News, Khanna refuted the military’s version.
“The [Israeli military] is lying,” Khanna said.
“What happened was unprecedented. They had violent settlers detain American citizens, including an American government official. You had these settlers brandishing M4s, kicking the tyres of our van, laughing at us, mocking at us, videotaping us.”
He added that Israeli military personnel also participated in blocking the road and detaining them.
“How dare they mistreat people with an American passport that way?” Khanna said.
Some pro‑Israel politicians have claimed that Khanna provoked the detention as a political stunt.
“Sounds like another plea for publicity. Anything to get in front of the camera. Why else would you be there? It isn’t your country,” Republican Congressman Greg Murphy wrote on social media.
Critics noted that Murphy’s first trip as part of a congressional delegation was to Israel.
Khanna responded to Murphy, urging him to be on “Team America” and support holding settlers and soldiers accountable for mistreating U.S. citizens.
“I would be calling for that if you had been in our shoes,” Khanna said.
Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson defended Khanna, criticizing U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee for not speaking out about the incident.
“An American member of congress is threatened by foreign terrorists carrying American rifles, backed by a foreign military paid for by American taxpayers, and the US ambassador to that country says not a word in defense of his own countrymen,” Carlson wrote on X.
“It’s too much, too insulting and humiliating to America.”
Nevertheless, several pro‑Israel figures in the U.S. have expressed doubt about Khanna’s experience. Former U.S. envoy to Israel David Friedman accused Khanna of “self‑victimization,” alleging, without evidence, that Khanna entered a restricted zone to provoke the incident.
Friedman suggested Khanna staged a photo op to advance a false narrative.
“As was entirely predictable, he was asked a few questions and sent on his way. But he got the photo op and all he needed for his pre‑conceived false narrative,” Friedman said on social media. “Well played Ro.”
Attacks on U.S. Citizens
Israel’s military and settlement presence in the occupied West Bank is illegal under international law.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, including Gaza, is unlawful.
“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” the UN tribunal said.
Israeli settlers—often backed by the Israeli military—frequently attack Palestinian communities in the West Bank, destroying farms and properties and assaulting anyone who interferes. Americans have not been spared.
One year ago, Israeli settlers beat 20‑year‑old U.S. citizen Sayfollah Musallet to death.
Three weeks later, Khamis Ayyad, a 45‑year‑old father of five from Chicago, was also killed in a settler attack.
No suspects have been charged in either case.
Despite documented abuses against U.S. citizens, Israel was added to the U.S. visa‑waiver program in 2023, granting Israeli nationals visa‑free travel to the United States.
Israel remains the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. military aid, receiving more than $21 billion in the past two years alone.