Brad Lander, the far-left Democratic nominee for New York's 10th Congressional District and former New York City comptroller, was detained Wednesday by Israeli security forces while participating in an uncoordinated olive harvest alongside Palestinian Arab farmers in Judea and Samaria.
"I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis & volunteers. We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank," Lander wrote on social media.
"The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know," he added.
While the Palestinian issue is highly important to Lander, he failed to get the name of the Palestinian town where he volunteered correct. Nehalim is a Jewish moshav in central Israel, rather than a community in Judea and Samaria. He was most likely referring to Nahalin, an Arab village near Bethlehem, where the incident reportedly occurred.
According to the military, the landowner and dozens of accompanying individuals arrived at the location without arranging the harvest in advance, as required before the start of the olive harvest season.
Due to the security risks associated with an uncoordinated harvest near an Israeli community, IDF soldiers, Border Police personnel, and Judea and Samaria District Police officers were dispatched to the scene and detained those present.
The IDF emphasized that prior coordination is essential for maintaining public order and ensuring the safety of everyone in the area.
The landowner was informed of the requirement to coordinate the harvest and was provided with the relevant contact details to arrange access to his land on another date.
The military stressed that properly coordinated olive harvesting is taking place throughout Judea and Samaria. Approximately 100 authorized harvests have already been conducted this season, producing dozens of tons of olives under security arrangements provided by Israeli forces, without any unusual incidents.
The IDF further clarified that access to areas designated for coordinated harvesting is restricted to the harvesters themselves and that entry is permitted exclusively for agricultural work.
Security forces remain committed to facilitating the harvest while maintaining public safety and carrying out their ongoing defensive and counterterrorism operations, the military said.
According to the left-wing organization Rabbis for Human Rights, Lander was among approximately 90 activists, including Israeli volunteers and visiting American rabbis, who accompanied Arab farmers during Wednesday's harvest.
The organization claimed that the farmers had been unable to reach their olive groves since the October 7, 2023, massacre.
Approximately two hours after the group began working, IDF soldiers, police officers, and Border Police personnel arrived and declared the area a closed military zone for 24 hours, according to the activists.
Rabbis for Human Rights stated that participants agreed to leave the area as instructed but were nevertheless detained while security personnel checked their identification documents and photographed passports.
The foreign participants and Israeli volunteers were subsequently separated and transported in different vehicles for further processing.
Former Israeli Deputy Attorney General Yehoshua Schoffman, who was among those detained, described the incident in a social media post.
"I was just told that I am being detained on suspicion of harvesting olives. On the way to a police station," Schoffman wrote.
He said that dozens of Israelis and American rabbis had participated in the activity and that the group immediately complied when instructed to stop harvesting.
"There was no confrontation whatsoever with settlers or with the security forces," he emphasized.
Lander was taken to a police station in Beitar Illit and subsequently released under caution. Other foreign activists were reportedly transported to Camp Etzion, near Bethlehem. The precise length of Lander's detention was not specified.
Earlier this week, Lander announced that he was participating in the "Protect the Harvest" initiative, which brings Israeli and foreign activists to accompany Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.
He said the initiative was intended to assist farmers, draw attention to Israeli control of Judea and Samaria, and oppose what he described as violence and displacement affecting Palestinian communities.
Olive harvests in Judea and Samaria have also been exploited to carry out attacks on Jewish residents. Last Friday, Palestinian Arab rioters near al-Mughayyir and Abu Falah in the Binyamin Region hurled rocks, fired fireworks, and set fire to Jewish-owned agricultural land, leaving several Israelis lightly injured. The Binyamin Regional Council accused the rioters of exploiting the harvest to provoke violent confrontations with Jewish farmers.
Earlier in the month, the Council reported that three Palestinian Arabs participating in an olive harvest near Maoz Tzur attacked an Israeli farmer, injuring his head and allegedly attempting to seize his firearm. The Council warned that the olive harvest was being used as cover for attacks against Jewish residents and demanded stronger security measures.
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv criticized the detention, calling on senior IDF commanders to stop employing closed military zone orders against olive-harvesting activities. He also contacted Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, drawing attention to the involvement of American political figures.
Rabbis for Human Rights Acting Executive Director Anton Goodman likewise condemned the security forces' actions, arguing that the volunteers had been engaged in peaceful agricultural work before being ordered to leave.