It’s Ro Khanna’s Word Versus the IDF, Netanyahu—and a Whole Bunch of U.S. Lawmakers

Over the weekend, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he was visiting a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank last week when his van was stopped by armed settlers and IDF soldiers, blocked from going any farther, and taunted for about 75 to 90 minutes. It was, he told the Intercept, the most “powerless” he ever felt. Now, the IDF’s disputing his claims—along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Fox News, and… several American lawmakers.

According to Khanna, all this happened on Wednesday, on the last part of a three-day trip he took to Palestine during the congressional summer recess. The visit was organized by Khanna’s staffer, Cameron Kasky, a Parkland school shooting survivor and longtime critic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as well as Jasper Nathaniel, an American journalist known for reporting from the West Bank. The visit was meant to serve as a “Palestinian-led” look at the West Bank, thus snubbing the Israeli government with reported efforts to help plan the trip.

Khanna, Kasky, their driver, and a security guard say they were walking through the ruins of Khirbet Zanuta—a village that was attacked and destroyed by Israeli settlers in 2023 and has since become abandoned—when they spotted a settler with an assault rifle smiling at them. They rushed back to the car, but found it’d been blocked by another, and were intimidated by several more armed individuals that mocked them, kicked their vehicle’s tires, and brandished their weapons. After two more cars gathered with more armed settlers, a fourth car joined, bringing four men and women dressed in what appeared to be IDF uniforms. Eventually, Khanna got through to the U.S. embassy in Israel, and soon after the antagonists drove off. Afterwards, Israeli police arrived. 

Khanna appeared on “Meet the Press” shortly after, disputing the IDF’s claims and calling for Netanyahu to step in with an investigation into the individuals that blocked him from leaving. “They had violent settlers detain American citizens, including an American government official,” he said. 

And, well, it seems it’s Khanna’s word against the IDF, Netanyahu… and a bunch of other American lawmakers—all of whom are pushing claims that it was the congressman’s fault for performing some real pick-me politics. Which, um, not like Israel’s one of the most commonly visited foreign country by lawmakers—but OK!

“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?” Michael Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., said on CBS News. “I’m asking a question.” “Sounds like another plea for publicity,” Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) also tweeted. “Anything to get in front of the camera. Why else would you be there? It isn’t your country.” (Murphy has visited Israel multiple times.) Former Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) also criticized the trip, saying in a video-tweet that it had “all the hallmarks of a political stunt rather than a genuine effort to understand this complex conflict.” 

And on Monday, Fox News host Gillian Turner invited Khanna onto a heated episode of “America’s Newsroom,” where she asked, “Did you really not know that going into a restricted military area, guarded by local security forces, was going to result in your entourage getting stopped?” 

Fox News brought on Ro Khanna this morning to do a hit interview about his trip to the West Bank. Imagine hosts treating a Republican like this.

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) July 13, 2026 at 9:55 AM

 

For now, Khanna is still calling for an investigation, as well as the prosecution of the settlers and soldiers who detained him. At the rate things are going, he’ll probably be waiting awhile.