US Democratic candidate Brad Lander detained by Israeli troops during West Bank olive harvest

What happened

Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander said Israeli forces detained him on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, while he was helping Palestinians pick olives near Nehalim in the occupied West Bank. He had joined volunteers from the group Rabbis for Human Rights. Lander later wrote on X that he was released after a caution, possibly because of his public profile. He shared photos and video of himself on a bus that Israeli soldiers had boarded him and dozens of other volunteers onto.

In the post that announced his detention, he wrote:

I was detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis and volunteers

De Volkskrant, citing The Jerusalem Post, reported that the army arrived about two hours after the volunteers began harvesting and then sealed off the area. The volunteers obeyed an order to leave but were detained anyway. The paper named former Israeli deputy justice minister Joshua Schoffman among those held. The reason for Lander's detention was unclear, and the army had not issued a statement when the paper reported.

How many were detained

The figures differ and were measured on 21 October, so they are not final. Europa Press put the number of Rabbis for Human Rights volunteers arrested at about 80. De Volkskrant, citing The Jerusalem Post, reported about ninety people taken by the army. Lander's post said several dozen rabbis and olive harvesters were still in custody and demanded their immediate release. No later count appears in the reporting.

Israel's response

The Israeli foreign ministry said Lander had ignored instructions to coordinate with Israeli authorities. It called the episode a political stunt and said the visit was about harvesting headlines rather than olives. The army said the Palestinian owner of the olive grove had not requested permission before the harvest. Rabbis for Human Rights said Israeli authorities told them the group was inside a closed military zone.

Settler attacks and the diplomatic fallout

Le Soir reported that settlers seriously injured a US photojournalist covering the violence over the weekend of 17 to 18 October. The same attackers beat a French mayor visiting with European diplomats, including the Belgian consul general. De Volkskrant identified the photojournalist as Heidi Levine of The Washington Post. Police announced ten arrests on Monday, 19 October, and Le Monde reported that Israel announced several arrests after the attacks. De Volkskrant said the US government responded angrily to the violence, while President Donald Trump continued to back Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the elections. According to the paper, Netanyahu condemned the attack on Levine.

The campaign

Lander is running for the House of Representatives in New York's 10th district in the 3 November midterm elections. Adnkronos describes the district as a Democratic stronghold, and de Volkskrant says he is almost certain to be elected. He is an ally of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom Le Soir places on the left wing of the Democratic Party. In the same post about his detention, Lander wrote:

The occupation is a crime under international law, harvesting olives is not a crime under any law I know

The detainees' fate and the legal basis for the detention remained unclear in the reporting.