Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna called for Israel to release Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian leader serving five life sentences for murder.
The California congressman made the appeal Friday in a video posted to X, arguing Barghouti could advance peace.
“I am calling for the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison,” Khanna wrote alongside the video.
Barghouti has spent two decades behind bars after an Israeli court convicted him in 2004.
The court found him guilty of five murders and one attempted murder connected to deadly attacks during the second intifada.
Those killed included a Greek Orthodox monk and four other people, according to the account of his conviction.
Judges imposed five consecutive life sentences and additional prison time, making Khanna’s demand a consequential appeal to Israel.
I am calling for the release of Marwan Bhargouti from Israeli prison. pic.twitter.com/z0T1vmlVho
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) September 25, 2026
Khanna said Palestinians should be able to choose their leaders and described Barghouti as unusually influential across factions.
He portrayed the prisoner as a secular figure who could help establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
The argument rests on Barghouti’s standing in Palestinian politics despite the crimes for which an Israeli court convicted him.
That standing has made his name a recurring subject in discussions about negotiations and prisoner exchanges.
Khanna acknowledged the convictions in his video while insisting that release would not amount to forgiving wrongdoing.
He pointed to human rights groups that have questioned whether Barghouti received a fair trial.
Those objections have not overturned the Israeli judgment or ended the five life sentences Barghouti is serving.
The congressman argued that difficult compromises have accompanied earlier peace efforts in the Middle East.
He invoked Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as figures who worked toward peace despite their histories.
Khanna then drew a comparison to former Irish Republican Army members entering political life after years of violence.
He said participation became appropriate when former militants embraced a vision of equality and coexistence.
For families of the five people killed in the attacks, the conviction remains central to any proposed release.
Khanna’s proposal places that record against his belief that Barghouti could help lead a political settlement.
Barghouti was a senior figure in Fatah, the Palestinian faction historically associated with the Palestinian Authority.
He gained prominence during the second intifada, when shootings and suicide bombings killed Israeli civilians.
Israel arrested him in 2002 and later secured the convictions that put him in prison for life.
Barghouti rejected the court’s authority and did not mount a defense in the proceedings.
His supporters have long disputed the case and cast him as a potential unifying Palestinian leader.
Israeli opponents see freeing a man convicted of five murders as an unacceptable concession.
The issue has surfaced before in negotiations involving Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages.
Hamas has previously sought Barghouti’s release as part of proposed exchanges, underscoring his political importance.
Israel has resisted freeing him, even while releasing other Palestinian prisoners in past deals.
President Donald Trump was also asked about Barghouti’s possible release in an interview published last year.
Trump said then that he was considering the question, without announcing a decision in that interview.
Khanna’s new appeal does not mean Israel has agreed to free Barghouti or reopen his case.
It does put an American lawmaker behind a demand Israel has repeatedly resisted.
The timing comes ahead of November’s midterm elections, when Democrats face scrutiny over their approach to Israel.
Khanna framed his position as an effort to give Palestinians a leader capable of pursuing coexistence.
His critics can point to the same record he acknowledged: an Israeli murder conviction and five life terms.
Whether Barghouti could actually unite rival Palestinian factions or negotiate peace remains uncertain.
Political influence inside Palestinian society does not itself resolve Israeli objections to his release, Breitbart News reported.
Nor does the prospect of future talks erase the sentences imposed for the victims’ deaths.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
