Whoops: There's a Small Problem With That Video Ro Khanna Posted About His West Bank 'Detention'

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After Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17) blew it big time by promoting the scandal-plagued Graham Platner, the former Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, he would have been well advised just to do some self-reflection and lay low for a while.

But instead, he went headlong into another incident that also made him look bad: He claimed he was "detained" in Israel and that there were threats by "violent" settlers who were then helped by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), who held him for more than an hour. And he's been demanding the arrest of the locals and the IDF soldiers.

As we reported on Monday, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Leiter, nuked Khanna, asking if this was an effort to distract from Platner and noting it was an "interesting" way to "declare a presidential run," with a New York Times photographer in tow.

Rep. Ro Khanna said his office alerted the U.S. embassy in Israel of his visit to the West Bank, where he said he was detained by Israeli settlers, but Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Michael Leiter tells @margbrennan, “There was not an alert. There was a question about visas,… pic.twitter.com/CYpr2vaCe7
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 12, 2026

After Imploding on Platner, Ro Khanna Claims He Was 'Detained' by Israeli Settlers in West Bank

Then, on Monday, Khanna also posted a video that was taken of part of the incident. But he didn't help himself with it. You know what you don't see on the video? Anyone being threatened, any violence, or anyone being held by guns. What you see is folks waiting for the police to come to help straighten out who Khanna's group is.

Looks like there is body camera video of this unprecedented, illegal detention of Americans by a foreign country. When are the arrests of these violent settlers and 4 IDF officers taking place @netanyahu? https://t.co/jhZxVlUYAS
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) July 13, 2026

So, unless they have another video, this doesn't show what Khanna claimed at all. Where's the violence that Khanna claims?

In this video released by a man who was with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), there is no violence or detention that can be seen as he has claimed. https://t.co/5xK3b0fseP
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 13, 2026

There seems to have been some confusion as to whether it was actually a "closed military zone (CMZ)" as initially reported. Leiter said it was "believed to be" a CMZ. Still, at the very least, it was obviously a problematic area where coordination would have helped prevent issues. After the October 7th attack, obviously, anyone is likely to be sensitive to strange cars with people they don't know.

But Ambassador Leiter leveled Khanna again, "At no point was the congressman, or any member of his party, threatened by the soldiers, or civilians bearing arms." He also termed it a "cheap, anticipated provocation that could, and should have been avoided."

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also said that Khanna didn't coordinate with the U.S. embassy either and termed it a "stunt."

So great job, instead of distracting from Platner, Khanna just managed to make himself look even worse.

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