Brad Lander, a Democratic House nominee in New York City, was detained on Wednesday in the West Bank by the Israeli military while taking part in an international delegation to harvest olives alongside Palestinian farmers. Mr. Lander shared news of his detention on social media, posting a photo of himself on a bus and saying he was with a group of rabbis and other volunteers. In a phone interview, he said he was held for roughly three hours and then released, but that dozens of Israeli and international participants in the solidarity mission remained in custody.
The annual olive harvest is a significant Palestinian cultural rite and an economic lifeline for Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Attacks by Israeli extremist settlers in the territory have spiked in recent weeks, part of a surge of settler violence against Palestinians over the last few years. Mr. Lander, who is Jewish and a longtime advocate for Palestinian rights, has called Israel's occupation of the West Bank "a crime under international law."
In a statement, the Israeli military said it had detained "dozens" of people near the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit "due to the security risk posed by conducting an uncoordinated harvest near an Israeli community." The military said harvesting in the area requires advance requests to the relevant authorities. It later said it had not known Mr. Lander was a congressional candidate and released him once it learned that information. Mr. Lander said officials told him they were releasing him "because I'm a public official," but he protested that he had done nothing different from anyone else.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, an important political ally of Mr. Lander, said he was glad Mr. Lander had been released "but other New Yorkers remain detained, and they must be released immediately." Mr. Lander said the Palestinian owner of the olive grove had been unable to harvest since October 2023 because of fear of settler violence.
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