Gun-Toting Israeli Forces Detain Ro Khanna in Dramatic Video

(Photo by Lenin Nolly/NurPhoto)

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) was detained during a visit to the West Bank and shared video of the dramatic moment he was detained by Israeli forces.

“Israeli settlers, brandishing American made M4s, detained me & other Americans on my trip to Palestine,” Khanna wrote on X Saturday. “When the IDF arrived, they sided with the settlers & continued our detention. They made a huge mistake. You will be hearing more soon.”

Khanna shared a clip, apparently taken from his vehicle, of Israeli soldiers blocking the road.

The congressman, a vocal critic of Israel’s government, said he was detained by Israeli settlers, and later Israeli military, during a three-day trip this week while he touring the demolished-Palestinian Bedouin village of Khirbet Zanuta.

Khanna told The New York Times Israeli settlers with guns blocked his vehicle and others from leaving via the road to the village. The men were reportedly “swearing at them in Hebrew and Arabic and kicking the tires of their minibus.” A Times photographer was in another vehicle and witnessed the incident.

Two Israeli military vehicles later arrived and Khanna assumed they were there to help him leave, but they “smoked cigarettes, chatted with the men and after the settlers left, moved a car to block the road.”

“I felt powerless in that situation, which is not an easy thing, as I have a lot of privilege in life,” he said. “Imagine how people feel every day, Palestinians under the occupation, if they could make an American congressperson feel powerless for 90 minutes.”

Khanna, who is considering a 2028 presidential run, gave a warning to Israel after the detainment, telling them that such incidents are not the best way to build “good will” with the United States.

“Free advice to the Israelis: It’s not a good idea to detain long-shot presidential candidates,” he said. “Not how you’re going to build good will with the next American president, whoever that is.”

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