Brad Lander Detained By Israeli Soldiers While Harvesting Olives in the West Bank

A New York congressional candidate was detained by the Israel Defense Forces while harvesting olives in the West Bank on Wednesday.

Brad Lander, a Democrat running to represent the state’s 10th Congressional District, was briefly taken into custody while volunteering alongside Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli nonprofit that advocates for social justice.

A few hours after announcing his detainment, Lander said he’d been released from IDF custody with a “warning.”

In a video statement before the incident, Lander said, “The Palestinians whose land this is have a right to harvest it in peace.”’

A photo of Lander being detained shows him standing between two IDF officers.

He and other volunteers were in the West Bank to shine a light on a recent spate of violence perpetrated against Palestinians by Israeli settlers now living in the territory, which many critics — including Lander — have referred to as an “occupation.”

According to the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, there were 178 attacks on olive farms in 2025, and more than 6,000 trees and saplings were damaged or destroyed.

In September 2026, Israeli military authorities issued orders to remove vegetation from roughly 339,000 square meters throughout the northern and central occupied West Bank, the U.N. reported, including the uprooting of olive trees.

“The olive harvest is an essential source of food, income and livelihood for thousands of Palestinian families, and is deeply rooted in Palestinian cultural and agricultural heritage,” the U.N. said.

Lander confirmed he’d been detained in a post on X, along with a group of rabbis and volunteers.

“We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank,” wrote Lander. “The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know.”

Lander announced he was in the West Bank in a social media post on Oct. 19, saying he was assisting in the harvest with the “Protect the Harvest” coalition.

The coalition helps Palestinian farmers harvest “in the face of state-sanctioned settler terrorism,” wrote Lander.

Lander previously served as the New York City comptroller between 2022 and 2025. The Washington Sun has contacted representatives for Lander and the IDF for comment.