In his first interview with an Israeli media outlet since his confrontation with armed settlers and Israeli soldiers in the southern West Bank last week, Representative Ro Khanna spoke with Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer in a wide-ranging conversation about the now-famous incident, the “cruelty” he witnessed in his visit to the West Bank, and how Israel’s “disproportionate and inhumane” behavior in the Gaza war has changed his policy positions and the way that both he – and Americans at large – view the Jewish state.   

"Israel has lost Americans under 50 – not just Democrats but Republicans," he said. “It is one of the most foolish strategies to have antagonized an entire American generation, and that's what Bibi Netanyahu has accomplished."

In the interview, Khanna recounted how Israeli settlers mocked and antagonized his delegation, and parked their vehicle in front of his to block the road to Khirbet Zanuta, a Bedouin village in the South Hebron Hills that has been forcibly displaced by settler violence twice since 2023, despite a High Court ruling that requires Israeli authorities to safeguard the Palestinians’ return. 

"We were quickly told to get into our van, and they blocked our van from exiting,” he said, saying that the settlers and the IDF forces who “took their side” should be investigated and prosecuted. “You can't do that. I've called it detainment. You could call it false imprisonment." 

In reaction to subsequent statements on the incident issued by the Israeli military and top officials, he said that he was “more disturbed” by their “lies” than by “the incident itself.” 

Khanna, a California Democrat who has made it clear that he is interested in a presidential run in 2028 and that he plans to make Palestinian rights a central issue on his platform, added, “the next American president will demand the arrest of violent settlers.”

Reiterating his belief that “Gaza was a genocide,” Khanna also said that anyone who “wants to see the cruelty of humanity” should “spend a day in the occupied West Bank."

He said he had visited Israel three times in the past – including trips with Jewish groups – and today, he is “saddened” and “pained” that Israel’s “contribution to human civilization is being corrupted because of an ugly occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, because of extreme elements that want to see the aspirations for a greater Israel, and because of an unwillingness to recognize the humanity and dignity of the Palestinian people.”

Read more: 

Op-ed by Breaking the Silence's Nadav Weiman: I Joined Rep. Ro Khanna on His West Bank Visit. Here's What I Saw

Israel's Response to Settlers Detaining Ro Khanna? Call J Street's Judaism Into Question

West Bank Palestinians Flee Homes in Zanuta Amid Settler Violence, Failed IDF Protection

Erased: Israeli Settlers' Brutal War on Palestinian Communities in the West Bank

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