Rep. Ro Khanna, an American lawmaker detained last week during a visit to the West Bank, did not coordinate his trip with the Israeli government, according to Israeli officials, who also denied the California Democrat’s claim that he was detained at gunpoint.
“No guns were pointed at him. It’s a characterization far beyond what actually took place,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter said Monday in an interview on SiriusXM’s “Chris Cuomo Mornings.”
Mr. Leiter said the embassy in Washington reached out to the congressman, who is eyeing a possible 2028 presidential run, when officials learned he would be visiting Israel.
“As all congressmen do, they coordinate their trip with the Israeli government,” Mr. Leiter said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “He ignored that, and he decided to coordinate his trip not with Israel, but with Palestinian activists and with J Street, which is an anti-Israeli government advocacy group here in Washington.”
Israeli officials suggested that Mr. Khanna visit with survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel or their sensitive border areas near Lebanon and Syria.
Mr. Khanna noted on social media that he has met with families of Israeli hostages and repeatedly condemned the Hamas terror attacks.
But Mr. Khanna said last week’s trip was aimed at getting an unfiltered look at the conditions on the West Bank.
“The presumption of [Mr. Leiter] that Americans, who fund Israel’s military, must go on trips curated by Israel’s government reeks of the impunity of power. I told Israel of my travel but wanted a Palestinian-led trip,” he said Sunday on X. “Israel’s military does not have the right to detain us.”
Mr. Khanna was visiting Khirbet Zanuta, an abandoned Palestinian village in the southern West Bank, when he and his party were detained by armed Israeli settlers who surrounded their van and blocked the roadway.
“What happened to me in the West Bank was an outrage. But it is nothing compared to what Palestinians face every day,” he said Monday.
Israel Defense Forces troops responded after they received reports that settlers were blocking the vehicles of foreign nations.
“They dispersed the Israeli civilians within a short time, thereby reopening the blocked road,” officials said in a statement. “The IDF soldiers operating in the area did not take part in blocking the road.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Mr. Khanna was in an Israeli-controlled area in the West Bank when he was stopped.
“We only found out he was there while he was at this particular checkpoint,” Mr. Huckabee said on the “Chris Cuomo Mornings” program.
Mr. Huckabee downplayed the idea that it was out of the ordinary for the Israeli settler security personnel to be armed.
“That’s pretty normal. It’s like a police officer who comes up to your car when he’s pulling you over for a traffic violation,” Mr. Huckabee said. “He’s armed. He has a gun, but that doesn’t mean he was pointing it at you.”
Mr. Leiter suggested that politics may have played a part in Mr. Khanna’s surprise visit to the West Bank.
“Congressman Khanna has made no secret about his antipathy toward the government of Israel,” he said.
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