Brad Lander Says Israeli Military Detained Him in West Bank During Olive Harvest

Q: What hidden security threats prompted Israeli forces to issue a sudden closure order against peace activists harvesting olives?

There is no verified public evidence of a specific “hidden” threat behind the closure order. The reporting available says Israeli forces arrived after about two hours of harvesting and issued a 24-hour closed military zone order, but neither the IDF nor police publicly detailed an immediate threat tied to the activists themselves. The broader security context offers the most plausible explanation. The olive harvest in the West Bank has become a recurring flashpoint, with repeated attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian farmers, journalists, clergy, diplomats and activists. Israeli authorities have also been operating under heightened alert in parts of the West Bank because of general safety assessments, holiday-related security measures, and concern about possible terrorist or copycat attacks, even when no specific intelligence is disclosed. At the same time, rights groups and participants in this incident said there was no confrontation underway when the order was presented. Rabbis for Human Rights said the group was peaceful, agreed to leave once shown the order, and that no one had known about it in advance. Some accounts specifically said there had been no clash with soldiers or settlers at the scene. So, based on the record so far, the sudden closure appears to have been justified by Israeli authorities under a broad security rationale rather than any publicly identified, concrete threat posed by the peace activists harvesting olives.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 21

Brad Lander, a New York Democratic congressional candidate, said Wednesday that Israeli forces detained him and a group of rabbis and volunteers near Nehalim in the West Bank.
Lander said the group was helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives in disputed territory when they were stopped; Rabbis for Human Rights and Rabbis for Peace also said he was detained.
The terms of his detention and whether he had been released were still unclear, with his campaign and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's office not immediately commenting.
Lander, a former New York City comptroller who left the Democratic Socialists of America in 2023 after a post-Oct. 7 rally, won an upset primary this year and is heavily favored in the overwhelmingly Democratic 10th District.