Episode summary
Congressman Ro Khanna returned from the occupied West Bank where he was detained for 75 minutes by armed Israeli settlers and IDF soldiers, sparking an international incident with no apparent US government response. In an interview discussing the trip, Khanna revealed that body camera footage released the morning of the interview confirms IDF officers sided with the settlers who blocked his van with M4 rifles, forcing him to call senior US embassy officials to secure release. Prime Minister Netanyahu defended Israel's conduct, calling the settlers involved "juvenile delinquents," but Khanna countered that they are affiliated with Yanan Levy, who allegedly murdered a Palestinian on camera yet remains free. Khanna described personally experiencing racial apartheid for the first time in his life, being singled out at checkpoints while his white Jewish companions were ignored. He criticized Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for lying about accountability and condemned the lack of American government response to the detention of four US citizens. Beyond his own detention, Khanna emphasized he witnessed systematic apartheid against Palestinians, including water deprivation, extrajudicial killings of children, vandalized homes of Palestinian-American millionaires, and destroyed villages. He stated his purpose was to experience a Palestinian-led tour rather than the "curated" Israeli government visits he had done on three prior trips. Khanna suggested Israel is attempting to discourage American politicians from making similar trips and argued that if more Americans witnessed conditions on the ground, support for current policies would collapse. He noted he himself evolved on the issue only after seeing the situation firsthand.