Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 14

Huckabee Rejects Khanna's 75-Minute West Bank Detention Claim as Embassy Notification Dispute Deepens

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 14

Huckabee Rejects Khanna's 75-Minute West Bank Detention Claim as Embassy Notification Dispute Deepens

Q: What does raw footage reveal about the disputed 75-minute detention of a U.S. lawmaker in the West Bank?

The raw footage does not settle the dispute; it supports sharply different interpretations. Material cited by Israeli officials, including police body-camera video, reportedly shows officers warning the tour leader about entering or violating what they described as a closed military zone and says police saw no violence. The IDF’s account is similar: troops arrived after reports of foreign nationals in a suspected restricted area and a road blocked by Israeli civilians, then dispersed the civilians and let the convoy continue after only several minutes. Israeli officials also say the armed person seen there was an off-duty IDF soldier, not troops detaining the group. Khanna says other video shows the opposite. He argues footage released afterward shows armed settlers blocking the Americans and IDF soldiers then siding with the settlers and preventing the group from moving. He has pointed to his own video and said journalists on the scene, including a New York Times photographer, captured evidence that the group was effectively detained for about 75 minutes. What the available footage appears to establish is that armed Israelis were present, the convoy was stopped, and Israeli forces later arrived. What remains unresolved from the public record is the key factual dispute: whether this was a brief security intervention in a confused access dispute, as Israeli officials say, or a prolonged, coercive detention in which soldiers backed settlers, as Khanna alleges.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 14

Mike Huckabee said Ro Khanna falsely claimed the U.S. Embassy had been informed about his West Bank trip, adding the embassy would have warned him not to enter what he called a restricted area.
Khanna countered that both the U.S. and Israeli embassies were notified and said Deputy Chief of Mission David Brownstein helped get his group out after armed settlers blocked their van for 75 minutes.
The IDF said soldiers responded to reports of foreigners in what was initially believed to be a closed military zone and of a road blocked by Israeli civilians, then cleared the convoy within minutes with no violence reported.
Israel's ambassador to Washington and an Israeli security official also said Khanna failed to coordinate the visit in advance, while Khanna maintained settlers and then IDF personnel unlawfully prolonged the detention.
The clash has widened into a political fight, with Israeli and U.S. critics calling the 72-hour trip a publicity stunt as Khanna presses for prosecutions and investigations over the incident.