Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) revealed Saturday that he had recently been detained by a group of armed Israeli settlers and military personnel earlier this week, and one MAGA lawmaker is sparking uproar after siding with Khanna’s captors over his own congressional colleague.
“Israeli settlers, brandishing American-made M4s, detained me & other Americans on my trip to Palestine,” Khanna wrote in a social media post on X Saturday, along with video of his detention. “When the [Israel Defense Forces] arrived, they sided with the settlers & continued our detention.”
While Khanna’s detention sparks bipartisan outrage from the likes of both Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) and alt-right conspiracy theorist Stew Peters, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) appeared to instead side with Khanna’s captors.
“Sounds like another plea for publicity. Anything to get in front of the camera,” Murphy wrote Saturday in a social media post on X. “Why else would you be there? It isn’t your country.”
The blowback to Murphy’s remarks was swift – and bipartisan.
“An American congressman is detained and threatened by armed Israeli settlers and his colleagues in Congress instantly side with the Israeli soldiers and thugs who did it,” wrote Harrison Berger, a correspondent with The American Conservative.
Independent journalist and video creator James Li called Murphy’s remarks “borderline treason” and called for him to be “removed from office,” and Brian Tashman, a political researcher at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, pointed to what he characterized as Murphy’s hypocrisy, sharing a photograph taken during Murphy’s own trip to Israel.
“Republican congressman Greg Murphy says Ro Khanna shouldn’t visit the West Bank because it ‘isn’t your country.’ Anyway here’s Greg Murphy with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu while on a trip to Israel,” Tashman wrote in a social media post on X, alongside a photograph of Murphy and Netanyahu.
Daniel McAdams, the executive director of the Ron Paul Institute, called Murphy’s comments ”disgusting” and “out of step with the vast majority of Americans,” and journalist Zaid Jilani echoed Li’s remarks.
“This congressman is rooting for illegal foreign settlers harassing Ro Khanna with automatic rifles,” Jilani wrote in a social media post on X. “This is the closest thing to treason you can get without crossing the line.”
Israeli activist Nadav Weiman supported Khanna’s characterization of the incident, claiming to have been with the California congressman during his detention.
“I was there with Rep. Khanna as an expert on settler violence,” Weiman wrote in a social media post on X. “Armed settlers were the first to arrive, and then, as has become the norm, Israeli soldiers joined them. Together they detained the delegation for over an hour. The [Israel Defense Forces] is lying and not for the first time.”
According to Track AIPAC, an advocacy platform that documents lawmakers’ financial support from pro-Israeli groups, Murphy’s campaigns have received more than $100,000 in contributions from pro-Israeli political groups as of April.
Republican congressman Greg Murphy says Ro Khanna shouldn’t visit the West Bank because it “isn’t your country” Anyway here’s Greg Murphy with Netanyahu while on a trip to Israel https://t.co/jk2VB4SdAn pic.twitter.com/77O0jKV8rg — Brian Tashman (@briantashman) July 11, 2026
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