U.S. Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander and roughly 80 human rights volunteers were detained by Israeli forces on October 21, 2026 while accompanying Palestinian farmers during an olive harvest near Nahalin in the West Bank. Israeli authorities declared the area an uncoordinated closed military zone, subsequently releasing Lander due to his public profile while holding dozens of international activists, highlighting heightened tensions over surging settler violence.
Detainment of volunteers near Nahalin
- ▪Israeli forces informed the volunteer group of roughly 80 people detained near Nahalin that they had entered a closed military zone before taking them to a police station in an Israeli settlement on two separate buses
- ▪Israeli military and police forces detained U.S. Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander and approximately 80 volunteers on October 21, 2026 while they harvested olives alongside Palestinian farmers near Nahalin, West Bank
- ▪Brad Lander was released from Israeli military custody with a warning because of his public profile as a U.S. congressional candidate, while dozens of other volunteers remained held at a police station
Support from Jewish Human Rights groups
- ▪Acting Director Anton Goodman of Rabbis for Human Rights stated that the volunteer group detained near Nahalin could not have known the area was a closed military zone prior to arriving and had offered to leave peacefully
- ▪T'ruah chief executive Rabbi Jill Jacobs stated that police made no formal accusations against the roughly 80 volunteers detained near Nahalin while holding them inside and outside a West Bank settlement police station
- ▪Rabbis for Human Rights organized around 80 volunteers, including 33 U.S. citizens alongside British, Canadian, and Israeli participants, to provide protective solidarity for Palestinian farmers facing settler violence
Israeli statements on harvest security
- ▪The Israel Defense Forces stated that conducting an olive harvest near an Israeli community requires prior coordination for safety reasons, describing the presence of Brad Lander's group near Nehalim as an uncoordinated harvest posing security risks
- ▪Israeli authorities stated that security forces were actively facilitating authorized, safe olive harvests across the West Bank region while carrying out ongoing defensive and counterterrorism missions
- ▪Israel Defense Forces officials stated on October 21, 2026 that the local landowner near Nehalim was provided contact information to coordinate the olive harvest near Nehalim at a later date
Settler violence during the olive harvest
- ▪Israeli police announced on October 20, 2026 that they had arrested ten individuals in connection with violence against Palestinians and journalists during the West Bank olive harvest
- ▪Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank surged during the October 2026 olive harvest, prompting U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio to call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to crack down on violence
- ▪An American photojournalist for the Washington Post was beaten by Israeli settlers on October 16, 2026 while covering a West Bank olive harvest, and European diplomats and a French mayor were attacked the following day
Brad Lander's political background
- ▪Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller and ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, traveled to the West Bank as part of the Protect the Harvest coalition after vocal criticism of Israel's military operations in Gaza
- ▪Brad Lander is the Democratic party nominee for New York's 10th Congressional District in the November 3, 2026 midterm election, running against Republican Jennifer Moore after defeating incumbent Representative Dan Goldman in the primary
Story comments
Loading comments…