The settlers were giving orders, not the soldiers.
On a Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, a convoy carrying U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna was stopped by armed settlers near the village of Zanuta — a twenty-minute standoff that became a test of something older than diplomacy: whether the powerful will tell the truth about what the powerless already know. Khanna returned home with video evidence and a direct accusation that the Israeli military had lied about its soldiers' role in detaining an American congressional delegation. The incident did not create the tension it revealed; it simply made visible a pattern that human rights organizations have documented for years — one in which the line between settler violence and military complicity has grown difficult to find.
- Armed settlers brandishing M4 rifles blocked a U.S. congressional convoy in the South Hebron hills, kicking tires and mocking the delegation while IDF soldiers, when they arrived, told a translator they sided with the settlers.
- Israel's official response — Netanyahu calling the settlers 'juvenile delinquents,' the IDF claiming it had 'quickly dispersed' the crowd — directly contradicted video evidence and eyewitness accounts from both Khanna and Israeli human rights observers on the ground.
- Rather than address the specific allegations, Israel's ambassador accused Khanna of staging a political stunt, floating theories about a presidential run and a domestic scandal, prompting audible laughter from a CBS anchor.
- Khanna named the IDF officers on camera and called for their investigation alongside settlers connected to a man recorded apparently killing a Palestinian activist — a killing that went unprosecuted despite video evidence.
- The standoff now sits at the center of a broader accountability question: whether documented military complicity in settler violence can survive official denial when the cameras were rolling.
Near the village of Zanuta in the South Hebron hills, a convoy carrying California Congressman Ro Khanna came to a stop. Armed settlers had blocked the road, rifles visible, their attention fixed on the American vehicles. The twenty-minute standoff that followed would ignite a sharp diplomatic dispute — not just about what happened, but about who was willing to tell the truth about it.
Khanna had traveled to the occupied West Bank to observe conditions in a region where Amnesty International has documented a government-backed campaign of displacement. The settlers who stopped his convoy were connected to Yinon Levi, a man recorded on video apparently firing the shot that killed Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist who had worked on the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. Israeli authorities did not prosecute Levi despite the footage.
When Khanna released video of the detention, the Israeli government responded swiftly. The IDF claimed it had quickly dispersed the settlers. Netanyahu called them 'juvenile delinquents.' But Khanna, appearing on Meet the Press, rejected the account flatly: 'The IDF is lying.' He described settlers with M4 rifles mocking his delegation — and then four IDF soldiers arriving and telling his translator they sided with the settlers, before blocking the Americans in further. His account was corroborated by Nadav Weiman of Breaking the Silence, who witnessed the soldiers deferring to the settlers rather than commanding them.
Israel's ambassador to the U.S. responded not by addressing the allegations but by questioning Khanna's motives — suggesting the visit was timed to distract from a domestic controversy and to launch a presidential campaign. The CBS anchor interviewing him laughed. When she noted Khanna had held the footage until he was safely out of Israeli-controlled territory, the ambassador pressed on regardless.
Khanna called for investigations into the four IDF officers captured on security cameras and into the settlers connected to Levi. The episode distilled something human rights organizations have long documented: a pattern in which settler violence and military presence do not stand in opposition but in alignment — and in which official accounts and recorded reality have learned to coexist without reconciling.
On a Wednesday afternoon in the South Hebron hills, near the village of Zanuta, a convoy carrying U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna came to a halt. Armed Israeli settlers blocked the road ahead, rifles visible, their attention fixed on the American vehicles. What followed was a twenty-minute standoff that would become the center of a sharp diplomatic dispute—one that exposed a fundamental disagreement about what actually happened, who was responsible, and whether the Israeli military was telling the truth.
Khanna, a California Democrat, had traveled to the occupied West Bank to witness conditions in an area where, according to Amnesty International, a government-backed campaign of ethnic cleansing has driven Palestinians from their homes. The settlers who stopped his convoy were not random troublemakers. They were connected to Yinon Levi, a figure whose name carries weight in this region: Levi was recorded on video roughly a year earlier firing what appeared to be a fatal shot that killed Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist who had worked on the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. Israeli authorities did not prosecute him for the killing, despite video evidence filmed by Hathaleen himself as he was shot.
When Khanna posted video evidence of his detention on social media, the Israeli government's response was swift and dismissive. The Israel Defense Forces claimed they had "quickly dispersed" the settlers and reopened the road. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, characterized the armed men as a small band of "juvenile delinquents," not representative of what he called the "law-abiding" settler community. But Khanna, also on Meet the Press that Sunday, rejected this account entirely. "The IDF is lying," he said. He described settlers brandishing M4 rifles, kicking the tires of his van, mocking and videotaping the delegation. Then, he said, four IDF soldiers arrived—and instead of dispersing the settlers, they told his translator they sided with them. The soldiers further detained the Americans and blocked them in. The entire ordeal lasted roughly twenty minutes, Khanna said, during which he and his team feared for their lives.
The congressman's account was corroborated by Nadav Weiman, director of Breaking the Silence, an Israeli human rights organization founded by former soldiers opposed to the occupation. Weiman wrote on social media that armed settlers arrived first, then Israeli soldiers joined them. "Together they detained the delegation for over an hour," he wrote. "The IDF is lying and not for the first time." When Weiman spoke to the soldiers, asking them to use their authority to remove the threatening settlers, he witnessed something that inverted the expected hierarchy: the settlers were giving orders, not the soldiers.
Instead of addressing these specific allegations, Israeli officials pivoted to attacking Khanna's motives. Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Leiter, accused the congressman of orchestrating a political stunt. On CBS News' Face the Nation, Leiter suggested the timing was suspicious—the incident occurred Wednesday, but Khanna waited until Saturday to release the video. Leiter theorized this was designed to distract from Khanna's past support of Graham Platner, a former Maine Senate candidate accused of sexual assault. He also suggested Khanna was using the West Bank visit to promote a potential 2028 presidential run. The host, Margaret Brennan, audibly laughed at this theory. When she noted that Khanna had actually requested the news be held until after he left Israeli-controlled territory, Leiter doubled down, accusing the congressman of making the visit to appeal to Democratic voters. "It's kind of interesting that somebody wants to declare a presidential run by running off to Israel," Leiter said.
Khanna's response was direct. On social media, he wrote that the Israeli government was lying to cover for four IDF soldiers who aided violent settlers. He acknowledged meeting with Israeli hostages and condemning the October 7 Hamas attacks, but said that did not excuse the IDF from detaining American citizens. He also called for specific investigations: into the four IDF officers whose actions were captured on security cameras, and into the violent settlers connected to Levi, whom he named directly and asked Netanyahu to investigate.
The incident crystallized a larger question about accountability. Every Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law. Yet the pattern Khanna described—settlers initiating violence, Israeli soldiers arriving and siding with them rather than stopping them—reflects what human rights organizations have documented repeatedly. The video evidence existed. The soldiers' involvement was recorded. Yet the official Israeli narrative minimized the settlers as delinquents and claimed swift military action had resolved the situation. Khanna's insistence that the IDF was lying, backed by eyewitness accounts and documentation, suggested a different reality: one in which the line between settler violence and military complicity had blurred beyond recognition.
Notable Quotes
The IDF is lying. What happened was unprecedented. They had violent settlers detain American citizens, including an American government official.— Ro Khanna, on NBC's Meet the Press
Armed settlers were the first to arrive, and then, as has become the norm, Israeli soldiers joined them. Together they detained the delegation for over an hour. The IDF is lying and not for the first time.— Nadav Weiman, director of Breaking the Silence
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that Khanna was detained for twenty minutes? Isn't that a relatively brief incident?
Because it wasn't random. The settlers who stopped him were connected to someone who killed a Palestinian activist and was never prosecuted. And when soldiers arrived, they didn't disperse the settlers—they sided with them. That's not a brief inconvenience. That's a demonstration of how the system works.
But Netanyahu called them juvenile delinquents. Doesn't that suggest they're outliers, not representative?
That's the official line, but Weiman—who was there—said the settlers were giving orders to the soldiers, not the other way around. If they were just delinquents, why would soldiers take orders from them?
The Israeli ambassador suggested Khanna was using this for political gain. Could that be true?
Maybe his timing served his interests. But that doesn't change what happened on the road. The video exists. The soldiers' involvement is documented. Attacking his motives doesn't address whether the IDF actually lied about what occurred.
What's the larger pattern here?
Settler violence, military presence, and impunity. The same person who killed Hathaleen was never charged. Now soldiers are siding with settlers who detain an American congressman. The pattern suggests this isn't aberration—it's how things function.
So what happens next?
That depends on whether anyone investigates. Khanna called for investigations into the four soldiers and the settlers. Whether those happen, and what they reveal, will say a lot about whether accountability is possible.