Ro Khanna incident highlights Israel's West Bank quagmire and US support issues

US Representative Ro Khanna's recent detention in the West Bank, lasting about an hour, has revealed a complex picture of Israeli control and declining US support. While initial reports suggested a more deliberate act of harassment, further information indicates a series of missteps by both settlers and the IDF.

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According to both on- and off-the-record information, extensive questioning of both sides and newly released video evidence, this picture that emerges is in some ways less worrying than the original reports, but in some ways shows what a quagmire Israel has tangled itself in in parts of the West Bank and in its crashing levels of support in the US.

Settlers, armed with M-4 rifles, blocked Khanna's vehicle near Khirbet Zanuta, a Palestinian village recently subjected to settler raids. The settlers claimed Khanna had entered a closed military zone. However, it was later revealed the area was no longer restricted. Even when it was, the zone was reportedly intended to protect Palestinians from settlers, not to prevent prominent figures from visiting.

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Khanna had said his group’s van was surrounded by settlers wielding M-4 rifles, while touring Khirbet Zanuta – whose Palestinian residents were forcibly displaced by settler raids in December 2024.

Khanna himself did not coordinate his travel with the IDF, leaving him without official protection and his presence unknown to soldiers in the area. This lack of coordination, while not excusable for the settlers' actions, meant the IDF was unaware of his visit. The subsequent actions by the IDF, described as babysitting the vehicle until police arrived, were less about actively removing settlers and more about managing the situation.

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In the end, it turned out that the area was no longer a closed zone, and even when it was, it probably had been so to keep vigilante settlers away from harassing the Palestinians there, not to prevent a prominent US Congressman from touring the site.

The incident, though not a clear case of deliberate harassment by the IDF, underscores the volatile environment in parts of the West Bank. It also points to a growing challenge for Israel in maintaining its support within the United States, as such events continue to unfold.

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Khanna did not coordinate with IDF