Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Leiter has accused US Congressman Ro Khanna of using a recent detention incident in the West Bank as a political stunt.
The accusation comes after Khanna claimed that armed settlers and Israeli soldiers detained his convoy near the village of Zanuta on Wednesday.
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Congressman's Account
Khanna, a Democrat from California, shared video evidence of the encounter and accused the Israeli military of lying about how it was handled.
"The IDF is lying," Khanna said during a television interview. He described the confrontation as unprecedented, alleging that armed individuals threatened the delegation.
"They had violent settlers detain American citizens, including an American government official.
You had these settlers brandishing M4 [rifles], kicking the tires of our van, laughing at us, mocking at us, videotaping us," Khanna stated.
He added that arriving soldiers openly sided with the settlers. "We were detained for about 20 minutes, fearful of our lives.
Then the IDF comes, four soldiers. They tell our translator that they're on the side of the settlers.
They further detain us and block us in."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu minimized the incident, referring to those involved as "juvenile delinquents" and maintaining that Israel is a "law-abiding" country.
Khanna responded by calling for an official investigation into the incident and the specific individuals involved.
"The prime minister needs to open an investigation on these violent settlers who are connected to Yinon Levi, who has destroyed Zanuta's village and is a known person who has killed Palestinians," Khanna demanded.
