Ro Khanna, Democratic critic of Israel, says he supports Zionism and the ‘right for Israel to exist’

JTA – California Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, a leading critic of Israel in the United States Congress, said he believed in the “right for Israel to exist”, and that it was antisemitic to oppose the existence of a Jewish state.

Khanna made the comment during an interview on Friday, 17 October, with J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Speaking to the J’s Gabe Stutman, Khanna said he supported Zionism and that modern antisemitism stemmed from “denying the idea of a Jewish state”.

“I believe that Zionism is self-determination of the Jewish people, and the right for Israel to exist. And I support that. What I don’t believe is if it means greater Israel,” said Khanna, pointing out that he believed that there needed to be a “two-state solution”.

Last month, Khanna led an unsuccessful effort to push US President Donald Trump to recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly. He also said he agreed with a UN commission’s finding that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, making him one of only a handful of members of Congress to endorse the charge that Israel rejects.

“I agree with the UN commission’s heartbreaking finding that there is a genocide in Gaza,” wrote Khanna in a post on X. “What matters is what we do about it – stop military sales that are being used to kill civilians, and recognise a Palestinian state.”

Later in the interview, Khanna went on to frame his support for Jewish self-determination within his broader understanding of antisemitism.

“The original antisemitism was denying the Jewish people based on religion,” said Khanna. “Then, under Nazism, it became denying the Jewish people based on race. And today, antisemitism is denying the idea of a Jewish state. And I reject all three of those antisemitism premises.”

During the interview, Khanna also defended his appearance in a documentary earlier that month that featured antisemitic influencer Ian Carroll. Following the YouTube documentary’s release, where Khanna spells out his reasoning for rejecting AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) funding, he posted a clip that featured Carroll following his own interview.

“I had, genuinely, no idea who he was,” Khanna told Stutman. “I had never met him, never spoken to him. The broader point I was making was about PAC [Political Action Committee] money – lobbyist money – not taking it. And not taking money from AIPAC. And that was what I said in the video. But once I came to know who he was, I, of course, unequivocally denounced his comments that somehow Israel was to blame for 9/11. I mean, that’s ludicrous.”

Khanna has also faced criticism for his appearance at the ArabCon conference last month, where several panellists defended Hamas as “Palestinian resistance”, and laughed at the idea of condemning the 7 October 2023 attacks.

“My brand, my politics, political philosophy is I will go and have a conversation anywhere,” said Khanna in defence of his appearance, pointing out that he had told the conference he “unequivocally” denounced the viewpoint that there “was any justification for Hamas”.