United States Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander says he has been released from Israeli military custody with a warning after being detained alongside dozens of volunteers helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the occupied West Bank. The incident occurred on Wednesday during what was supposed to be a peaceful agricultural solidarity mission near the village of Nahalin, located outside Bethlehem.
While Lander was freed relatively quickly following his apprehension, several dozen other participants in the volunteer effort—including rabbis and international activists—remain in detention, according to Lander, who has publicly called for their immediate release.
“I’ve been released from IDF custody with a ‘warning,’ apparently because of my public profile,” Lander wrote in a post on the social media platform X. “I told them I wasn’t even a congressmember yet, just a nominee.”
Lander, a prominent American politician who previously served as the New York City comptroller and ran as a mayoral candidate, was among approximately 80 volunteers who were detained by Israeli soldiers and border police. According to the Israeli human rights organization Rabbis for Human Rights, the group had traveled to the area to support local Palestinian farmers during the annual olive harvest season, a period traditionally marked by increased friction, movement restrictions, and security concerns across the occupied West Bank.
The volunteer delegation was diverse and multinational, comprising American, Israeli, Palestinian, British, and Canadian citizens. According to accounts provided by human rights advocates and participants, the group had been peacefully accompanying Palestinian farmers and assisting with agricultural labor for about two hours when Israeli security forces arrived on the scene. The soldiers and police informed the gathering that they were operating inside a designated closed military zone, a legal mechanism frequently utilized by the Israeli military in the West Bank to restrict civilian access to specific parcels of land.
Following the declaration, the volunteers were rounded up and taken to a local police station for processing and questioning, as detailed by Rabbis for Human Rights. While civilian and military authorities managed the detentions, the exact legal status and processing procedures for the remaining detainees have remained a point of urgent concern for their families, legal representatives, and political advocates.
The Israeli government and military authorities have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the detentions, the enforcement of the closed military zone designation, or the timeline for the release of the remaining volunteers.
The olive harvest holds profound economic, cultural, and symbolic significance for Palestinians in the West Bank. For generations, the seasonal harvest has served as a vital pillar of the rural economy, yet it is frequently complicated by ongoing political tensions, settlement expansion, and security measures enforced by the Israeli military. Palestinian farmers often require special coordination and permits to access groves located near Israeli settlements or military installations, and human rights organizations frequently deploy international and Israeli volunteers to accompany farmers to help deter potential conflicts or interference during the sensitive harvesting weeks.
The detention of Lander and the multinational group of volunteers highlights the high-stakes intersection of international diplomacy, human rights activism, and the complex realities of the occupied territories. As a Democratic congressional nominee in the United States, Lander’s involvement and subsequent temporary detention bring an elevated level of public scrutiny and diplomatic interest to the ongoing challenges faced by agricultural communities in the West Bank.
Lander has continued to press for the freedom of his fellow detainees, emphasizing that the rabbis and international volunteers who remain in custody were engaged in peaceful solidarity work and should be released without delay. The unfolding situation continues to draw attention from advocacy groups, political observers, and international monitors as families and supporters await further updates from the region regarding those still held by Israeli authorities.