U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) stated that he is strongly considering a run for president in 2028 after a recent trip to the West Bank. The California Democrat, a progressive lawmaker representing Silicon Valley and a frequent critic of Israeli policies, made the comments while discussing an incident in which he and members of his congressional delegation were detained by armed Israeli settlers.
Khanna described the detention during a visit earlier this week to the southern West Bank near the Palestinian hamlet of Khirbet Zanuta. According to his account and reports from multiple outlets, settlers blocked the road with vehicles and surrounded the group’s van for more than an hour on July 8.
The settlers were armed with American-made M4 rifles. Khanna told Reuters that the group had been viewing the ruins of the village, including a destroyed school, which residents had abandoned following prior settler attacks and subsequent demolition.
“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. And these hoodlums come in with machine guns – M4, an American-made machine gun – and they detain us,” he told the outlet. “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.”
He added that he is “certainly probably the first American politician who’s been detained by the IDF and Israeli settlers.”
The New York Times reported additional details from the scene, including that settlers taunted the group, swore at them in Hebrew and Arabic, and kicked the tires of their minibus. Two cars from the Israeli military then arrived and according to Khanna, the soldiers initially interacted with the settlers before one moved a vehicle to further block the road.
The group was released after approximately 90 minutes following intervention by Israeli police and assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. An aide to Khanna contacted the embassy for help during the standoff, The Times reported.
“If they will do this to an American congressman, imagine what is happening to Palestinian families who are just trying to live,” Khanna said. He also said he expects Israel to prosecute the settlers and any IDF soldiers involved.
Israeli settlers, brandishing American made M4s, detained me & other Americans on my trip to Palestine.
When the IDF arrived, they sided with the settlers & continued our detention.
They made a huge mistake.
You will be hearing more soon. https://t.co/rZw8bRAn64 pic.twitter.com/4z50Ye4I7K
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) July 11, 2026
The three-day trip, organized by Khanna’s staff, focused on the West Bank and included meetings with Palestinian residents. One stop was in Turmus Ayya near Ramallah, a village with many Palestinian-American dual nationals.
In additional comments to Reuters, Khanna stated that the trip inspired him to run for higher office in the near future. “I’m strongly considering it and I’m more resolved to consider it after this trip,” he said when asked about a potential White House bid.
He has framed Israel’s conduct toward Palestinians, including actions in Gaza and the West Bank, as a “moral test” for Democrats. In comments during the trip, he said that being unwilling to speak up for Palestinian human rights or against what he described as “the genocide in Gaza, the apartheid in the West Bank” would leave one “morally compromised.”
The Israeli military confirmed that troops and police responded to a report of settlers blocking vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta. According to the military, upon arrival the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem assisted but has not issued a public statement on the matter.
