Brad Lander says Israeli forces detained him at a West Bank olive harvest, then released him "with a warning"

As of 3:24 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026

Brad Lander, the Democratic nominee for New York's 10th Congressional District, said Wednesday that he was detained by the Israeli military while harvesting olives in the occupied West Bank and was later released "with a 'warning.'"

"I've been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis & volunteers. We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank," Lander posted on X at 6:29 a.m. ET. "The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn't a crime under any law I know."

About three hours later, at 9:35 a.m. ET, he posted: "I've been released from IDF custody with a 'warning,' apparently because of my public profile (I told them I wasn't even a congressmember yet, just a nominee)."

"But several dozen rabbis & participants harvesting olives with me are still in detention. For harvesting olives. They should all be released immediately," Lander wrote. He called the detentions "one more attempt to undermine Palestinians' right to harvest their olive groves, travel on their roads, and live in their homes," and "yet one more element of escalating, and very clearly state-sponsored ethnic cleansing."

What Israel says

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on X at 10 a.m. ET that "a number of harvesters, accompanied by dozens of individuals, arrived to conduct an uncoordinated olive harvest in an area near Beitar Illit," an Israeli settlement. Harvesting in that area requires a request to be submitted to the authorities before the season begins, the IDF said.

"Due to the security risk posed by conducting an uncoordinated harvest near an Israeli community, IDF soldiers, Border Police forces in Judea and Samaria, and officers from the Judea and Samaria District Police arrived at the scene and detained those present," the statement said. The landowner was told to coordinate the harvest for a later date, according to the IDF. The statement did not name Lander or say how many people were detained.

Israeli police said one of the foreign nationals was released once it became known he was a congressional candidate, Reuters reported.

Israel's Foreign Ministry accused Lander on X of staging "a calculated political provocation." "This was not about harvesting olives. It was about harvesting headlines," the ministry posted at 11:41 a.m. ET. It said his team had contacted Israeli representatives in the United States before the visit and "was explicitly informed that proper coordination with the relevant authorities was required," and that "he chose to ignore those instructions."

Where it happened

Accounts of the location differ. Lander said the grove was near Nehalim. The IDF said the harvest was near Beitar Illit. Reuters, citing the Israeli group Rabbis for Human Rights and the Jewish North American group T'ruah, said the incident took place in Nahalin, a village south of Bethlehem.

Rabbis for Human Rights and T'ruah said Israeli military and police forces arrived about two hours after the Palestinians and volunteers began gathering olives and told them they were in a closed military zone and would be detained, according to Reuters. Anton Goodman, the acting director of Rabbis for Human Rights, told Reuters the group had not known the area had been declared a closed military zone because the order was issued only that morning, and that they had told the forces they would leave.

No charges against Lander or the others have been reported.

U.S. response

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said it was aware of reports that U.S. citizens had been detained and was monitoring the situation, but declined further comment, citing privacy and other considerations, Reuters reported. "The Trump administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans," the spokesperson said, according to Reuters.

No comment from the State Department or the White House was found.

Lander, a former New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate, is on the ballot in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Reuters reported.