A week and a half after Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who has accused the Jewish state of “genocide,” claimed that rifle-toting “thugs” aided by the Israeli military detained him and his delegation for 90 minutes in southern Judea, some details remain murky about the closed military zone that the congressman sought to enter.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who is no stranger to decrying Jew-hatred in his own party, told JNS that “this was just an opportunistic move and then not really sincere” and that “high-level sources” told him that “what the congressman is claiming happened isn’t what happened.”
The Israel Police told JNS on July 12 that it had responded the prior Wednesday, on July 8, to a “report concerning a group of individuals blocking a route in the Judea and Samaria area.”
When police officers arrived, they joined Israeli soldiers who were “already on the scene” and had “actively halted the tour group’s progress, because the group had entered a designated closed military zone,” police told JNS.
“By law, civilian access to these areas is prohibited for safety and security reasons,” and the areas fall under the jurisdiction of the Israel Defense Forces, it said.
Responding police officers “witnessed no violence on scene” and focused, instead, on the organizers of the tour. Reviewing body-camera footage confirmed “that the group leader was explicitly warned by officers, as this was not his first time violating the closed military zone order,” police told JNS.
“He was issued a final warning that any future violations would result in immediate arrest,” it said.“The tour participants were briefed on the military order and were released on their way out of the restricted area.”
Khanna’s group was organized by the leader of Breaking the Silence, an Israeli nonprofit that publishes testimony of soldiers critical of Israeli policies in Judea and Samaria.
The Israel Defense Force told JNS on July 12 that it received a report on July 8 about “Israeli civilians, who were unlawfully blocking the vehicles of foreign nationals and members of the media in the area of Khirbet Zanuta,” in southern Judea.
IDF troops sent to the scene “quickly dispersed the Israeli civilians and reopened the blocked road,” the Israeli military told JNS. “The IDF soldiers operating in the area did not take part in blocking the road.”
The armed civilian was an off-duty IDF reservist, according to the military.
Sharren Haskel, recently resigned deputy Israeli minister of foreign affairs, told JNS that Israel had offered Khanna full coordination, briefings, tours and security arrangements for his visit, “all of which he declined and didn’t even bother to reply to.”
The security environment in Judea and Samaria is “incredibly challenging,” she noted.
“The reality on the ground is highly complex and tense,” with near-daily Palestinian terror attacks across Judea and Samaria, she told JNS. “Instead of ignoring the facts, I invite the congressman to come and see firsthand the devastating aftermath of Oct. 7.”
The IDF stated 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 Israeli military stated. “The required conduct when interacting with diplomats will be further clarified and reinforced.”
Khirbet Zanuta
Khirbet Zanuta is an archaeological site dating to the Hasmonean Period and which is located in Area C of Judea and Samaria, where Israel retains administrative and security authority under the Oslo Accords. Israel declared the site a closed military zone in February 2025 in response to illegal Palestinian construction at the site. That order, originally set to expire in late 2025, was extended on Dec. 31 of that year into 2027, according to documents that JNS viewed.
Israeli security forces have removed activist groups from Khirbet Zanuta multiple times in recent weeks for this reason, according to the Hebron Hills Regional Council, which shared its version of the events with JNS.
During Khanna’s visit, local residents approached the delegation’s security guard and informed him that the group was in a closed military zone, according to the regional council.
The security guard said the group would await clarity from the IDF and Israel Police. The residents did not block vehicles or assault anyone at any point, and the IDF arrived within minutes, according to the council.
The soldiers, who arrived on the scene, were not initially aware of the area’s restricted status and were only responding to a civilian report, according to the IDF.
When the soldiers requested clarification, the brigade commander told them that the closed military zone was no longer in effect, an IDF spokesman told JNS. The reason for this wasn’t immediately clear.
The council described the interaction as a routine security check in response to what it said was “a carefully orchestrated provocation” by Breaking the Silence executive director Nadav Weiman. The group aimed to create a “false narrative” and harm Israel’s and the IDF’s reputations, the council said.
A local reservist, who serves on a civilian security team and was present during the July 8 incident, told TPS-IL that Weiman visited the area repeatedly despite being told it was closed.
“I know the location and know it is a closed military zone,” he told the publication. “This is not the first time I have called the army, security forces or police about vehicles inside the area.”
After receiving a call about two vehicles in Khirbet Zanuta, the reservist went to the site and contacted the army and police and recognized Weiman among the visitors, he told TPS-IL.
“He has come here dozens of times,” the reservist told the publication. “The police have warned him several times and made clear that this is a closed military zone.”
According to the reservist, the vehicles began moving as he approached. He told TPS-IL that he told the occupants that the army and police had been called and asked them to wait for authorities to arrive.
“They said, ‘No problem. We’ll wait for the army and police,’” he told TPS-IL.
The reservist denied threatening or attacking anyone and said he was unaware at that point that a U.S. congressman was traveling with the group. “The focus was on Nadav Weiman,” he told TPS-IL.
The reservist said that soldiers arrived 10 to 20 minutes after the call and that he then left the scene in their hands.
Another witness told TPS-IL that two people approached the visiting group’s security guard and said that the delegation was in a closed military zone. That witness also denied that anyone assaulted the visitors but told the publication that some locals obstructed the visitors before soldiers dispersed them.
Khanna has said his itinerary was intended to provide an unfiltered view of what he described as the human cost of Israeli control in Judea and Samaria. JNS has sought more information from Khanna’s office.
Naomi Linder Kahn, director of the Regavim Movement’s international division, told JNS that the incident was a “manufactured narrative” and a “PR stunt.”
Khirbet Zanuta is a “classic example” of the Palestinian Authority abusing international law, human rights and the truth, she told JNS.
The Palestinian Authority and the European Union are using area residents, who live in “subhuman conditions,” as pawns in an effort to take control of strategic lands in Area C of Judea and Samaria, according to Khan.
“The anti-Israel forces who continue to take to the stage in this theater of the absurd are as much to blame for the inevitable confrontations and conflict that are part and parcel of the Arab win-win strategy,” she said. “If Israel does nothing,” the illegal construction creates a Palestinian Authority “foothold in Area C,” she added. “If Israel enforces the law, the narratives of ethnic cleansing and violence get another bump.”
Despite Khanna’s claims that “Israeli settlers” destroyed the village at Khirbet Zanuta, squatters vacated the area voluntarily after the IDF increased its presence there after Oct. 7, Khan told JNS.
Yishai Fleisher, international spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron, told JNS that Khanna was seeking a “gotcha” moment to capture on video.
