Ro Khanna says armed Israeli settlers detained him during West Bank visit

JERUSALEM: US Democratic Representative Ro Khanna said he was detained by armed Israeli settlers during a visit to the occupied West Bank this week, describing the episode as part of a trip meant to give him what he called an unfiltered view of the impact of Israeli occupation as he considers a 2028 presidential campaign.

Speaking to Reuters on Thursday from a Palestinian village, Khanna said the incident happened a day earlier when his group was travelling through an area of the southern West Bank where, residents frequently face settler attacks. He said their van was encircled by settlers carrying M4 rifles made in the United States.

Khanna, a progressive Democratic congressman from California, said the group had been visiting a village he said had been wrecked by settlers. He said, "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."

He added: "And these hoodlums come in with machine guns — M4, an American-made machine gun — and they 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" referring to the Israeli military.

Cameron Kasky, an aide travelling with Khanna, said the group was held for more than an hour and sought assistance from the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Kasky said officers who appeared to be police later stepped in, after which the group was allowed to leave.

The Israeli military said troops and police moved in after receiving a report that settlers were blocking vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta. It described Khirbet Zanuta as a small Palestinian hamlet whose residents were forcibly displaced in violent settler raids after the 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. In a statement, the military said, "Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way."

Israel's police did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The US Embassy in Jerusalem also did not immediately respond.

Democratic debate over Israel policy

Khanna is the second Democrat seen as a potential White House contender to visit the region this week. In Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Rahm Emanuel, who previously served as chief of staff to former president Barack Obama, said Israeli policy toward Palestinians was weakening support for the US-Israeli alliance.

When asked whether he was running for president, Khanna said, "I'm strongly considering it and I'm more resolved to consider it after this trip."

Israel's treatment of Palestinians has become a point of contention within the Democratic Party ahead of the November US midterm elections. The issue has been linked to primary defeats for some sitting lawmakers challenged from the left by opponents who accused them of backing Israel's right-wing government.

Israel's favourability among Democrats dropped from 59% in 2018 to 22% in May. While Israel has traditionally had strong backing from both major US parties, a growing number of Democrats in Congress are pushing to end military assistance worth $3.8 billion annually. That aid includes support for light weapons such as M4 rifles and missile interceptors used by Israel in the Iran war.

During his visit, Khanna stood overlooking a valley with settler outposts on the edge of Turmus Ayya, a village with thousands of Palestinian American dual nationals. He said he believed the Democratic establishment was

clueless about how much of a moral test Palestine, Gaza and Israel have become.

Khanna said he chose to make a West Bank-only visit, with the programme led by Palestinians, so he could get what he described as an unfiltered look at territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. He said, "If you're unwilling to speak up for Palestinian human rights, if you're unwilling to speak up against the genocide in Gaza, the apartheid in the West Bank, then you are morally compromised."

Most countries and the United Nations consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention's ban on transferring a civilian population into occupied territory. Support for Israel remains strong among Republicans, although some parts of President Donald Trump's coalition have also called for ending aid.