Israeli forces detained US Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander on Wednesday while he assisted Palestinian farmers with their olive harvest in the occupied West Bank. Authorities released him hours later. Dozens of other volunteers, including a group of American rabbis, remained in custody at a police facility.
The incident occurred during an annual harvest period marked by widespread violence across the territory. The Israeli military said the farmers and volunteers failed to secure prior approval for the agricultural activity. Officials stated the detentions occurred due to security risks posed by an uncoordinated harvest near an Israeli community, adding that the arrival of the activists was intended solely to provoke.
Israeli police confirmed Lander was among those taken to a police facility and noted he was freed after officials learned he was a congressional candidate. Lander is running in the elections on November 3 to represent a New York district in the US House of Representatives. Following his release, he criticised the actions of the military on social media.
The occupation is a crime under international law, Lander wrote online, adding that harvesting olives is not a crime. He stated that the detentions represent another attempt to undermine Palestinian rights to gather crops, travel on roads, and live in homes.
Palestinian farmers face strict coordination requirements this year to access privately owned farmland. The anti-settlement organisation Peace Now reported that the military has expanded restricted farmland by nearly 30 percent to 34 square miles where entry is banned without prior approval. The military declined to confirm exact figures but maintained that farmers must coordinate access to areas under its security control.
Rights organisations, including the Palestinian Farmers Union and the Israeli group Yesh Din, reported that the current harvest season is the most violent in recent history. Incidents include hundreds of thefts, clashes, and arson attacks, largely occurring on land near unauthorised Israeli settlement outposts.
Beck Strober, a spokesperson for the advocacy group Protect the Harvest which organised the volunteer effort, stated that no clashes took place prior to the arrival of Israeli forces at the grove.
Among those still detained were a dozen American rabbis. Jill Jacobs, chief executive of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, condemned the restrictions placed on Palestinian farmers. She accused the Israeli government of advancing forced displacement and using the military to deny access to land and intimidate supporters.
Lander previously defeated US Representative Dan Goldman in a primary race for New York’s tenth congressional district. He is not the first American politician to face detention in the region this year, following an incident in July involving California Democrat Ro Khanna.
