Rep. Ro Khanna faced pointed questions about his accusations of genocide against Israel when he spoke at two Santa Clara County synagogues in his district over the weekend.
According to attendees who spoke with J., the first question out of the gate at each of Khanna’s visits — both at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills on Dec. 5 and at Temple Emanu-El in San Jose on Dec. 6 — focused on his accusations related to Israel’s war with Hamas.
“The issue du jour is his use of the word ‘genocide.’ That came up right away in the Q&A,” Hal Plotkin, a Beth Am congregant who attended the Dec. 5 service and discussion, told J.
In an exclusive interview with J. in October, when Khanna was asked about his statements regarding genocide, he explained that he was deferring in part to a United Nations commission, which determined in September that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. The Israeli government vehemently disagrees with this finding, which has divided experts. A statement from a group called Scholars for Truth About Genocide, signed by roughly 500 academics, historians, war crimes prosecutors and others, has rejected the claim that Israel committed genocide, arguing instead that Hamas did so on Oct. 7, 2023.
Khanna has done more than talk about this issue.
On Nov. 13, Khanna was one of 21 co-sponsors of Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s House Resolution 876, which declares Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide against Palestinians and lays out steps for the U.S. to “punish” Israel. The only other representative from California to co-sponsor the resolution was Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Oakland). The resolution remains in committee.
In response, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee began running ads on social media criticizing Khanna and other co-sponsors of the resolution.
“Ro Khanna is lying to you,” one AIPAC ad on Instagram stated. “Claims of genocide are a dangerous attempt to distort facts and rewrite history.”
Marshall Wittman, a spokesperson for AIPAC, told J. that Khanna has it backward.
“The only genocide in this war happened on October 7, when Hamas openly admitted it wanted to kill every Israeli man, woman, and child it could,” Wittman said in an email to J. on Dec 2. “Our ads urge his constituents to contact the congressman to reject legislation that is based on a lie and is hostile to a valuable American ally, Israel.”
Khanna is rumored to be seeking a presidential run in 2028.
During his visits to the Reform synagogues on Dec. 5 and 6, Khanna sought to clarify his positions. J. did not attend the events (Beth Am’s was closed to the media) but watched video clips provided by Khanna’s office and spoke with attendees and organizers. The clips did not include his discussion of genocide allegations.
Khanna told the audience what he told J. in October, according to accounts from people who were present at the synagogues — that he was leaving the determination of whether Israel had engaged in genocide to international organizations.
“The congressman sort of retreated behind the claim that it wasn’t his personal conclusion,” Plotkin told J.
Khanna reiterated his position in an email to J.
“I had said in our earlier interview I would defer to the UN finding of genocide,” Khanna wrote regarding his decision to co-sponsor Tlaib’s resolution. “This resolution simply memorializes the finding of the UN and other international scholars.”
Khanna gave a similar answer at Emanu-El when asked by the moderator, Rabbi Dana Magat, said Brian Schwartz, a longtime congregant who attended the talk.
According to Schwartz, Magat noted that the United Nations has often shown bias against Israel, cautioned that “language matters” and noted that the word “genocide” is often weaponized by antisemites and anti-Zionists.
“The congressman listened to that, nodded in agreement [and] stood by his comments,” Schwartz said. “He understood the concern, but he didn’t make any promises to change his perspective on it.”
Marci Gerston, a congregant at Emanu-El, helped organize Khanna’s visit. She said he was invited as part of the synagogue’s series that brings local political leaders to meet with Jewish constituents. The synagogue has also hosted Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose).
“I think Ro Khanna was very candid in his responses, and he was unequivocal in his condemnation of Hamas and of his support of Israel as a Jewish democratic state,” said Gerston, who also serves as co-chair for the political committee of J Street Silicon Valley.
Tensions flared at times, even as both events were mostly cordial.
At both synagogues, audience members wrote their questions on cards that were read by one of the rabbis. Gerston noted that one person at Emanu-El briefly “heckled” Khanna from the audience over a response he gave. One attendee at Beth Am told J. that on Khanna’s way out after the event, they witnessed an angry attendee shout at Khanna.
Sarah Drory, Khanna’s communications director, said in an email to J. that while the vast majority of the attendees at Beth Am were supportive and that Rep. Khanna’s remarks were met with applause, “one attendee yelled at Rep. Khanna in the parking lot, following him to his car because he had called for recognizing a Palestinian state and said that he agreed with the UN finding on genocide. Rep. Khanna was polite and engaged respectfully as he does with any constituent.”
Khanna reflected that position in a social media post after the events.
“We had an open discussion with congregants on antisemitism & a path forward for Israel and Gaza,” Khanna wrote on Facebook on Dec. 7, thanking both congregations for inviting him to speak. “I came away hopeful that with more dialogue, more understanding, and more engagement we can find a way for healing and peace in our nation and world.”
In the video clips that his office shared with J., Khanna spoke at length about his response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and why he was one of 37 Democrats who voted against a $14 billion Israel aid package in April 2024 that included military funding.
“Obviously the last two years have been traumatic. Oct 7 was a brutal terrorist attack and that needs to be condemned in the most unequivocal way, and I condemned it then and I’ve always condemned it,” Khanna told attendees at Emanu-El. “I mean Hamas is a terrorist organization. There was zero justification for what happened on Oct. 7. It was horrific.”
Khanna said he supported Israel’s fight to seek justice against Hamas during the first few months of the war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023. But as the war dragged on, Khanna said, he began to doubt that Israel could disarm Hamas militarily.
“I said we should not be providing offensive weapons to Israel while the war is ongoing and while they’re using those weapons to kill people in Gaza,” Khanna told Beth Am in one video clip.
The war is currently paused amid a fragile cease-fire.
Khanna also responded to questions at both synagogues about his efforts to fight rising antisemitism, particularly at schools in his congressional district, which includes Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose and Fremont.
At Emanu-El, Magat referenced the recent incident at San Jose’s Branham High School, when a group of students used their bodies to form the shape of a swastika on the football field. One student posted about it on Instagram, quoting Adolf Hitler.
“At a time when our country has lost all nuance and understanding of just about everything and is slowly normalizing antisemitism, what are you doing to support the Jewish community and to help educate the general public?” Magat asked Khanna.
Khanna said he has assigned one of his staff members to take the lead as an ombudsperson for any issue of antisemitism.
“We have had meetings with De Anza [College]. We’ve had meetings with the school districts in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale and other school districts. And we have an open door to say that any issue of antisemitism with schools or with employers, we want to hear about it and get involved,” Khanna said at Emanu-El.
He added that he has met with Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, and supports stronger enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act when it comes to antisemitism, particularly on college campuses.
“I’ve also supported more funding for the U.S. Justice Department to have security against incidents of antisemitism,” Khanna said, including for JCCs and synagogues.
Khanna told both synagogues he believes there needs to be a two-state solution that gives Israelis and Palestinians the right of self-determination and hope for a lasting peace.
“I don’t think that Hamas can be part of the governance of a Palestinian state,” Khanna told Beth Am.
Magat told J. in an email on Dec. 9 that the discussion was a worthwhile one.
“My goal was to create an energy of thoughtful dialogue and to talk about challenging issues for our community with nuance,” Magat said. “I think we accomplished that goal.”