Mike Huckabee Pushes Back on Ro Khanna’s Israel Visit Claim: ‘Not Held at Gunpoint’

JERUSALEM, Israel — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Tuesday accused Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., of making a false claim that he had coordinated with the American Embassy before traveling to Israel’s Biblical heartland.

Khanna visited the West Bank last week and later said his delegation was aggressively detained by Israeli settlers. The trip drew sharp criticism from opponents who described it as political theater aimed at boosting a possible presidential run.

Huckabee pushed back on X, disputing Khanna’s version of events and the role of the embassy. “The left-wing activist who set up this stunt says ‘The embassy is involved.’ That is NOT TRUE. We did NOT know a member of Congress was coming. We would have said don’t go to restricted zone. As FACTS come out, it’s not helping the desired narrative. Not ‘held at gunpoint,’” he wrote.

In an interview with INC News on Tuesday, Khanna said he was held by Israeli settlers for 75 minutes on Wednesday during a visit to the West Bank, a region also known by its Biblical names, Judea and Samaria.

“We had informed the Israeli embassy,” Khanna said.

Asked about Huckabee’s post on X stating that the embassy had no advance notice of the visit, Khanna rejected the accusation. “That is just false. He was misinformed,” the California Democrat said.

Khanna later answered Huckabee directly on X, writing, “Ambassador, we have always had a relationship of mutual respect despite political differences. The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has now clarified it was not a restricted zone and Israeli papers have confirmed this. Deputy Chief of Mission David Brownstein in our embassy did a superb job in getting us out. We are safe because of him. Please thank him. We obviously notified our Embassy and Israel’s embassy about the trip given we were in constant touch with David.”

Khanna said the “violent settlers who detained us need to be prosecuted and the IDF officers who furthered that detention need to be investigated. There were these extremist settlers who parked their car in front of our van denying us exit — there was only one road — they brandished an M4 gun and kicked our tires.”

Eitan Fischberger, an Israeli Mideast analyst, posted footage on X that he said debunked Khanna’s claims that he was violently detained. 

Fischberger wrote,” I encourage everyone to watch footage of Ro Khanna’s supposedly violent ‘detainment,’ which was released by the crazed activists on his own team. What a glorious self-own.”

INC News sent a follow-up press query to Khanna about the video footage. He said the post by Fischberger was “false” and provided his X post with video footage. 

He wrote, “When the IDF arrived, they sided with the settlers & continued our detention. They made a huge mistake.” 

Khanna told Fox News, “I told the Israeli government that I wanted to go on a Palestinian-led trip to the West Bank because I’d been [on] three trips to Israel. I had gotten Israel’s perspective, and that this trip I was going to go to the West Bank for a Palestinian-led look for three days. They knew that. And the point is that just because an American politician wants to get the side of Palestinians that does not give Israel the right to have violent settlers detain Americans with a passport that gives Israel the right to have IDF detain us. It’s not just me.”

Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told INC News Khanna’s visit “appeared to be a publicity stunt in advance of his expected run for president in 2028. Let’s be honest, this was a publicity stunt.

“Khanna’s 72-hour visit to several PLO-PA [Palestine Liberation Organization-Palestinian Authority] villages in Judea and Samaria was carried out without any security or diplomatic coordination with Israel either of these is the embassy in Washington or the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, or security forces in a particularly dangerous visit: his history of pro-Palestinian activism, and anti-Israel activism is well known.”

Diker claimed, “Khanna had publicly endorsed a Palestinian state following the Oct. 7 Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas massacre aligning with pro-Hamas, pro BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanction campaign against Israel] groups such as American Muslims for Palestine.”

Hamas’ invasion of Israel Oct. 7 resulted in the terrorist organization’s mass murder of over 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans.

Khanna is also under fire from a fellow Democrat.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., wrote on X, “What’s appalling is that Ro ignored requests to meet 10/7 survivors and hostages, or to visit sites of the 10/7 terrorist attacks. Instead, riding the anti-Zionist wave, he used the trip as a presidential campaign cameo.”

When INC News asked about Gottheimer’s criticism, including not meeting with Oct. 7 survivors, he said, “The purpose of this trip was a Palestinian-led tour through the West Bank.”

He noted that “I have been to Israel three times and met with hostage families.”

In response to Gottheimer’s accusation that he used the visit as a “presidential campaign cameo,” Khanna said, “I do not know what he was talking about.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, posted a lengthy response on X with respect to Khanna’s allegations that he was detained and his reported defamations of the Jewish state.

“Congressman Khanna was offered to coordinate his visit with the State of Israel — this goes beyond notifying of his presence in the country,” Leiter wrote. “He was offered in-depth coordination of his schedule to avoid misunderstandings, and he chose to ignore that offer. He also chose not to coordinate his visit with the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.”

“To add insult to injury, the Congressman used this instance as an opportunity to tout ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ libels to the press, propelling himself to the center of yet another anti-Israel media frenzy. The facts don’t lie — this was a cheap, anticipated provocation that could and should have been avoided….I’d be happy to host Congressman Khanna at our embassy for an in-depth conversation on his grievances regarding Israel.”

Khanna told INC News his office contacted Ambassador Leiter’s office after he offered to meet with the him. The congressman referred to his X post to Leiter. 

“…I am happy to take you up on your offer to meet because I want to turn this incident into something constructive for ordinary people in Palestine,” he wrote.

When asked about Leiter’s accusation that Khanna was defaming the Jewish state, Khanna said, “That’s what I believe happened, and that’s what the U.N. believed happened.”

Khanna added, “I want to be clear that I unequivocally reject Hamas’ terrorism and believe Israel has a right to exist. Hamas’ charter that calls for the destruction of Israel is appalling and why they are a terrorist group.” When pressed about whether Hamas’ invasion on Oct. 7 was genocidal and if the Hamas Charter is a genocidal document because it calls for the extermination of Jews and Israel, Khanna said it is “violent antisemitism,” and he repeatedly termed Hamas a terrorist organization but declined to call it a genocidal group.

Khanna also told INC News he believes the Islamic Republic of Iran, which finances Hamas, is a state-sponsor of terrorism.

“The initial inquiry indicates that IDF soldiers were dispatched to the Khirbet Zanuta area in the Judea Brigade following reports that foreign nationals had entered an area that was believed to be a closed military zone,” an IDF spokesperson told INC News Tuesday. 

“At the same time, an additional report was received regarding a road being blocked by Israeli civilians.

“Upon arriving at the scene, the soldiers distanced the Israeli civilians away from the area and waited for confirmation that there was no security concern regarding the foreign nationals present at the location, and awaited confirmation that the area was not, in fact, a closed military zone. The convoy was then allowed to continue on its way. This process lasted several minutes. It should be emphasized that, throughout the incident, there was no physical confrontation or violence between those involved, and no such allegations were reported.

“The armed individual present at the scene was an IDF soldier who was on leave. The matter is under review, and the soldier will be addressed accordingly. It should also be noted that the visit had not been coordinated with the IDF in advance. We emphasize that prior coordination of diplomatic visits is intended to prevent incidents of this nature. Such coordination is particularly important in areas where there is a risk of security-related incidents. The required conduct when interacting with diplomats will be further clarified and reinforced.”

The Press Service of Israel (TPS-IL) conducted an investigation of the public row. An Israeli security official told TPS-IL that Khanna’s delegation did not coordinate its arrival in advance. 

“They did not coordinate the visit,” the official said. “Usually, advance notice is received.” 

According to the official, visits by foreign lawmakers and other prominent delegations to sensitive areas of Judea and Samaria are generally coordinated with Israeli authorities. Such coordination allows authorities to assess access restrictions, security conditions and logistical arrangements. The official said Israeli civilian security personnel arrived and blocked the delegation before troops intervened. “Settlers arrived, blocked them, the army dispersed them and that was basically the end of the incident,” the official said.

The source added that security forces sought to resolve the obstruction quickly after learning that the vehicles had been blocked.

Diker sees the 2028 presidential election cycle as the magnet for attracting some candidates to Israel with their alleged anti-Israel personal agendas.

Diker said, “The point here is that U.S. presidential politics, on the left flank of the Democratic Party, now exploits what can be called Israel cancellation or the inversion of legitimacy between Hamas — PLO and Israel as part of the unresolved Palestinian question as a major national issue for the American people, not the Islamic Republic of Iran and its global terror proxies, and it’s interruption of global oil shipping, kidnapping the global economy, nor is the issue the ongoing Russia, Ukraine situation, the Chinese communist parties infiltration of technology and other assets in the West or the Islamic infiltration of America.”