New York congressional candidate Brad Lander said he was detained by the Israel Defense Forces while visiting the West Bank and has since been released with a “warning.”
The former New York City comptroller said he was apprehended along with a group of rabbis and volunteers.
“We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank,” the Democrat said on social media Wednesday alongside a picture of him on a bus. “The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know.”
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Hours later, he said he was released from IDF custody “apparently because of my public profile (I told them I wasn’t even a congressmember yet, just a nominee).
“But several dozen rabbis & participants harvesting olives with me are still in detention. For harvesting olives. They should all be released immediately.”
Rabbis for Human Rights said around 80 volunteers, including Mr. Lander, were detained on village farmland near Bethlehem.
In a video post, Mr. Lander said he was on a bus with rabbis and others and that the Israeli military was called by settler security.
“I will keep you posted as best we can,” Mr. Lander said. “We’re sure we didn’t do anything illegal.”
The Washington Times has reached out to IDF for comment.
The Democratic nominee for New York’s 10th Congressional District said Monday he was traveling in the West Bank as part of the Protect the Harvest coalition, which he said is coordinating help for Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in the face of “state-sanctioned settler terrorism.”
“To be clear: Palestinians face far worse consequences every day,” Mr. Lander said Wednesday after being apprehended. “These detentions by the IDF are one more attempt to undermine Palestinians’ right to harvest their olive groves, travel on their roads, and live in their homes. Yet one more element of escalating, and very clearly state-sponsored, ethnic cleansing.”
His visit comes on the heels of high-profile settler attacks.
Israeli police arrested 10 suspects in connection with a sharp spike in West Bank settler attacks targeting Palestinian olive harvesters, an American photojournalist and European diplomats.
The United Nations has recorded more than 200 settler attacks linked to the olive harvest since Sept. 1, surpassing the 185 recorded in all of 2025.
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