Israeli Military Detains 80 Olive Harvest Volunteers in West Bank

Israeli security forces detained about 80 American, Israeli and British volunteers harvesting olives on Palestinian land near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, including New York Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander, several rabbis and Israel’s former deputy attorney general. The military said the area had been declared a closed military zone, and the detainees were transported to a nearby police station.

Lander was released with a warning, while the remaining volunteers were still being held, according to the organizing group Protect the Harvest. The detainees included Jill Jacobs, chief executive of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, and 11 other American rabbis affiliated with the organization.

Lander, a Jewish politician who has criticized the Israeli government’s policies toward Palestinians, described the detention in a social media post published while he was being transported by bus.

“I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis and volunteers. We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nahalin in the West Bank. The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know,” said Lander, the Democratic congressional nominee.

He has argued that Israel cannot be a genuine democracy while denying Palestinians their rights and freedom. Lander also opposes Israel’s continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, has supported restricting US military aid to Israel and has described its military campaign in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks as genocide.

In a separate post on Monday, Lander explained the purpose of his visit to Palestine and described the conditions surrounding the harvest.

“Our goals for the trip are to help protect the olive harvest – and to shed a light on the reality of the occupation. Thankfully, our corner of today’s harvest was peaceful and successful. But violence unfortunately is never far away,” Lander wrote.

Protect the Harvest said the olive-picking operation near the village of Nahalin had proceeded peacefully until a large contingent of Israeli security forces arrived. The organization said the volunteers were working on private land belonging to a Palestinian family that had invited them.

“All volunteers were peacefully harvesting on the private land of a Palestinian family who had invited them. For reasons that remain unclear, the Israeli army showed up and detained approximately 80 people who were present,” Protect the Harvest said in a statement.

The military separated the detainees by nationality after declaring the area a closed military zone. According to the organizers, Israeli volunteers were transported in minibuses, while American volunteers were placed on a larger bus.

Joshua Schoffman, who served as Israel’s deputy attorney general for more than a decade, criticized the detention and described the experience in a social media post.

“Complete hallucination,” Schoffman wrote, describing the mass detention.

He also disputed any suggestion that the volunteers had resisted security forces or clashed with Israeli settlers during the harvest.

“Just now, they told me that I’m being detained for the crime of olive harvesting. We were asked to stop, and everyone complied. There was no friction whatsoever with settlers or with the security forces,” Schoffman wrote.

The detention occurred amid heightened tensions surrounding the annual olive harvest across the occupied West Bank. Palestinian farmers and people accompanying them have faced violence from Israeli settlers, according to the article, including a recent assault on a US photojournalist and attacks involving European diplomats and a French mayor that prompted international condemnation.

The organizers said detainees had been given water but had not received food. The Israeli military and police had not immediately responded to requests for comment.