Wire reporting: (Reuters, via RTE News)

Israeli forces on Wednesday, Oct. 21, detained about 80 volunteers who were helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives near the village of Nahalin, near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli group Rabbis for Human Rights and the organizers, Protect the Harvest^2,3. Among them was Brad Lander, the Democratic nominee for New York's 10th Congressional District^1,2,3,4.

Lander, a former New York City comptroller, wrote on X that he had been detained by the Israel Defense Forces with a group of rabbis and volunteers^1,4. "Harvesting olives isn't a crime under any law I know," he wrote, in a post that also called the occupation a crime under international law¹.

Rabbis for Human Rights said Israeli forces told the group it was in a closed military zone before taking them to a police station². The group said volunteers could not have known about the designation beforehand and offered to leave². Organizers said the detainees were separated by nationality and that the volunteers complied when told to stop³.

Lander was released, but the others were still being held as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Rabbis for Human Rights and the organizers^2,3. Rabbi Jill Jacobs, chief executive of the rights group T'ruah, who was among those detained, said the group included 33 U.S. citizens, Reuters reported, via RTE². Israel's former deputy attorney general, Joshua Schoffman, was also detained, according to the Guardian³.

The Israeli military, Israel Police and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the outlets reported^2,3. It was not clear why the area had been declared a closed military zone or whether anyone would be charged².

The detentions follow a weekend in which settlers attacked an American photojournalist and, separately, European diplomats and a French mayor at olive harvests, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Israel's government to curb settler violence^2,3. Lander, who faces the general election on Nov. 3, has been an outspoken critic of the Israeli government^2,3.

Sources

1. Brad Lander (X post)Brad Lander post on X, Oct. 21, 2026Oct 21, 6:00 AM
2. (Reuters, via RTE News)80 volunteers detained by Israeli forces in West BankOct 21, 10:39 AM
3. The GuardianIsraeli military detain US and UK volunteers in West Bank including Democratic NY politician Brad LanderOct 21, 10:08 AM
4. PIX11NY-10 nominee Brad Lander detained by the IDF in West Bank, he saysOct 21, 7:26 AM

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