U.S. Democratic Representative Ro Khanna said Israeli settlers armed with American-made rifles stopped his delegation during a visit to the West Bank this week, calling the incident a stark reminder of the realities faced by Palestinians living under Israeli occupation as he weighs a possible 2028 presidential campaign.
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday from a Palestinian community, Khanna said the confrontation happened the previous day when settlers carrying M4 rifles surrounded the vehicle transporting his group while they were touring a part of the southern West Bank that has experienced repeated settler attacks.
Khanna, a progressive Democratic congressman from California, said his delegation had been visiting a Palestinian village that had allegedly been devastated by Israeli settlers, including the destruction of a school.
“We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed, they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it,” he said.
“And these hoodlums come in with machine guns – M4, an American-made machine gun – and they detain us. They block off the road. And then they call the IDF and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans,” Khanna added, referring to the Israeli military.
The Israeli military said soldiers and police were deployed after reports emerged that settlers had obstructed vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta, a small Palestinian village whose residents were displaced after a wave of violent settler attacks that followed the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
“Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way,” the military said.
Another Democratic politician believed to be considering a 2028 presidential campaign, Rahm Emanuel, also travelled to the region this week. Speaking in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the former chief of staff to ex-U.S. President Barack Obama said Israel’s policies toward Palestinians were weakening support for the longstanding alliance between the United States and Israel.
When asked whether he plans to run for president, Khanna replied, “I’m strongly considering it, and I’m more resolved to consider it after this trip.”
Israel’s handling of Palestinians has become a major point of contention within the Democratic Party ahead of the November U.S. midterm elections, contributing to the primary losses of some incumbent lawmakers who were challenged by progressive candidates accusing them of backing Israel’s right-wing government.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, Israel’s favourability rating among Democratic voters declined sharply from 59% in 2018 to 22% in May.
Although Israel has traditionally received broad bipartisan backing in the United States, a growing number of Democratic lawmakers are now calling for an end to the country’s $3.8 billion in annual military assistance, which covers equipment ranging from M4 rifles to missile defence interceptors that were deployed by Israel during its conflict with Iran.
Standing above a valley lined with settler outposts near Turmus Ayya—a village with thousands of Palestinian Americans holding dual citizenship—Khanna said he believes many leaders within the Democratic Party fail to grasp how deeply issues surrounding Palestine, Gaza and Israel have evolved into a moral question.
“I think the Democratic establishment is clueless about how much of a moral test Palestine, Gaza and Israel have become,” he said.
Khanna explained that he deliberately limited his trip to the West Bank, with activities organised by Palestinians, saying the approach was intended to give him an unfiltered perspective of the territory Israel seized during the 1967 Middle East war.
“If you’re unwilling to speak up for Palestinian human rights, if you’re unwilling to speak up against the genocide in Gaza, the apartheid in the West Bank, then you are morally compromised,” Khanna said.
Israel has consistently denied accusations that it committed genocide in Gaza or operates an apartheid system in the West Bank, a territory inhabited by roughly 3 million Palestinians and about 500,000 Jewish settlers.
The United Nations and the majority of countries maintain that Israeli settlements in the West Bank violate international law, pointing to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bars an occupying power from relocating its civilian population into territory under military occupation.
Israel disputes that interpretation, arguing that the West Bank is contested territory with a Jewish presence dating back thousands of years. Palestinians, however, regard the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem as integral parts of a future independent Palestinian state.
While Republican backing for Israel remains strong, some factions within Trump’s coalition have also called for ending aid.
