Rep. Ro Khanna is urging Israel to free Marwan Barghouti, a man serving five life sentences for murder, claiming the move is essential to advance Middle East peace.
The California Democrat posted on X on Friday and released a video pressing Israel to let Barghouti walk free. Breitbart News reported the call as midterm elections draw closer.
An Israeli court convicted Barghouti in 2004 on five counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The attacks killed a Greek Orthodox monk and four other people. Judges handed him five consecutive life terms plus more prison time.
Khanna still wants him released. He cast the demand as a peace move and said Palestinians should pick their own leaders, even while nodding at the case against Barghouti.
In the accompanying video, Khanna laid out his case in plain terms.
Rep. Ro Khanna said:
"I am calling for the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison,"
He continued in the video remarks:
"Palestinians must choose their own leaders. Barghouti has a unique standing among all Palestinian factions,"
And:
"He’s seen as non-corrupt, a strong leader, and secular. Barghouti could deliver a Palestinian state living in peace with Israel."
That is a sweeping claim. Barghouti remains locked up for murders that took five lives. Khanna is asking a U.S. ally to set him free on the hope he will somehow produce peace.
Long prison terms exist for a reason, a point driven home when readers followed the case of America’s longest-serving prisoner and the decades of accountability that sentence represented.
Khanna tried to wall off the moral question. He said a release would not equal a pardon or absolution for crimes Barghouti “may have committed.” He also waved at unnamed human rights groups that, in his telling, say the trial was unfair.
Rep. Ro Khanna stated:
"Releasing Barghouti does not provide him with a pardon or moral absolution of crimes he may have committed,"
He added:
"In fact, a number of human rights groups say he did not even receive a fair trial. But the release is needed to move peace forward, just like Arafat and Rabin worked for peace despite their pasts."
Notice the hedge. “May have committed.” An Israeli court already found Barghouti guilty on five murder counts and one attempted murder count. The victims included a Greek Orthodox monk. Five consecutive life terms followed. That is not a rumor. That is a judgment.
Khanna reached for Northern Ireland to sell the idea. He said the Irish Republican Army did terrible things, then later talked about equality and coexistence, and that letting IRA figures enter politics was the right call. He claimed Barghouti has said the same thing, repeatedly.
Rep. Ro Khanna argued:
"The Irish Republic Army, the IRA, did terrible things in its war against British and Protestant domination,"
Then:
"But when the IRA said they had a vision of equality and coexistence, letting them participate in politics was the right decision. Barghouti has said exactly that, repeatedly."
Historical analogies are easy to deploy from a studio. They are harder for the families of the dead. Barghouti is not a theoretical case study. He is a man under five life sentences for murders an Israeli court tied to specific attacks.
Irish questions still draw strong American opinions, including when Trump called Irish reunification fantastic and broke with older U.S. caution on the issue.
Khanna’s pitch treats release as a diplomatic tool. It treats the conviction as an obstacle to manage. That is a choice about whose security comes first.
Khanna represents California in Congress. His Friday post and video put a U.S. lawmaker on record urging Israel to free a prisoner serving multiple life terms for murder. He framed it as necessary “to move peace forward.”
Peace built on emptying cells of convicted killers is not a new progressive habit. Voters have watched similar instincts in domestic fights over prosecution and release, including when a federal judge referred Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner for possible criminal investigation over accountability failures.
Here the pattern is international. A Democrat tells an allied democracy to free a man sentenced for five murders and an attempted murder. The stated upside is Barghouti’s “unique standing,” his image as “non-corrupt,” “a strong leader,” and “secular,” and the promise he “could deliver” a peaceful Palestinian state.
Could. Image. Standing. Those are political adjectives. The court record is concrete: five murder counts, one attempted murder count, five consecutive life terms, plus more time, for attacks that killed five people including a Greek Orthodox monk.
Israel is the country that tried him, sentenced him, and holds him. Khanna is asking that government to reverse the outcome for a geopolitical bet. American debates over Israel already run hot on Capitol Hill, as when Rep. Randy Fine retreated after an Israel-related threat to hold up a House agenda.
Khanna’s Friday message adds another front. A House Democrat is not merely offering private advice. He is publicly campaigning for the release of a prisoner Israel convicted of murder.
The people killed in the attacks get little weight in Khanna’s telling. He mentions human rights groups and fair-trial claims without naming the groups. He compares Barghouti to figures who “worked for peace despite their pasts.” He elevates Barghouti’s factional standing and personal brand.
What he does not do is put the five dead at the center. A Greek Orthodox monk and four others were murdered. An Israeli court assigned responsibility and stacked life terms on top of each other. That sentence is still being served.
Calling for release while saying it is not a pardon is a verbal split. The practical result Khanna wants is the same: Barghouti out of Israeli prison. The public argument is that peace requires it. The record shows a multiple murderer still under lawful sentence.
Taxpayers and lawful residents expect elected officials to side with victims and with partners who actually punish murder. They do not expect a member of Congress to market a life-term inmate as the missing piece of a two-state dream.
When leaders treat convictions as bargaining chips, they teach the wrong lesson about violence and consequence. Khanna’s post and video do exactly that. He wants Israel to free a man serving five life terms, and he wants Americans to accept it as statesmanship.
Peace that starts by unlocking the cell of a convicted killer is not toughness. It is a discount on murder, sold in the language of hope.