Ro Khanna Detained by Israeli Settlers During West Bank Visit

On July 11, 2026, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) was stopped by Israeli settlers armed with M4 rifles while traveling in a van near the Palestinian hamlet of Khirbet Zanuta in the southern West Bank. The settlers surrounded the vehicle for more than an hour, blocking the road and calling the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which Khanna said “was on their side, not on the side of the Americans.” An aide, Cameron Kasky, reported that appeals to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem were made before police-type officers intervened and released the group.

Reuters

The Israeli military stated that troops and police arrived after receiving a report of civilians blocking vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta. It said the forces “dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way.” Israeli police did not immediately comment, and the U.S. Embassy offered no response.

Reuters

Khanna’s detention occurs amid a sharp decline in Democratic favorability toward Israel—Reuters/Ipsos polling shows support fell from 59 % in 2018 to 22 % in May 2026. The issue has become a “flashpoint in Democratic politics” ahead of the November midterms, contributing to primary defeats for incumbents perceived as pro-Israel. Some Democrats now advocate cutting the $3.8 billion annual U.S. military aid that funds weapons such as the M4 rifles used by the settlers. Former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel warned that “Israeli policies toward Palestinians were eroding support for the U.S.-Israeli alliance.” Khanna framed his West Bank trip as an “unfiltered view” of the territory captured in the 1967 war, arguing that failure to speak up on Palestinian rights constitutes a moral compromise.

Reuters

• “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,” — Ro Khanna, U.S. Representative

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• “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,” — Ro Khanna

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• “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," Khanna said.” — Ro Khanna

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