Former New York City comptroller and Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander said Wednesday that he was detained by the Israeli military while on a trip to the West Bank, while harvesting olives.

Lander, who is a known critic of Israel, said he was visiting the Palestinian-occupied West Bank this week as part of a “Protect the Harvest” coalition that also included dozens of rabbis and volunteers when detained by the Israel Defense Forces. 

Lander said he was simply harvesting olives near Nehalim in the West Bank, which is bordered by Israel, Jordan and the Dead Sea.

"Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know," said Lander, who also said he was released with a warning because of his high profile. 

"To be clear: Palestinians face far worse consequences every day," he said on X. "These detentions by the IDF are one more attempt to undermine Palestinians’ right to harvest their olive groves, travel on their roads, and live in their homes. Yet one more element of escalating, and very clearly state-sponsored ethnic cleansing."

Rabbi Jill Jacobs said she was also detained by the IDF while harvesting olives, along with “approximately 80 American, Israeli, and international volunteers providing a protective presence for Palestinian farmers." 

Jacobs, the CEO of the progressive nonprofit T’ruah, said harvesters were picking olives for two hours before the IDF intervened and declared the area a "closed military zone” and transported them to a police station despite agreeing to leave. 

The Israeli military told Politico that the group was arrested because the Palestinians had not submitted a request to coordinate harvesting in the area ahead of time, as they are required to do, and that the farm they harvested needed only a small number of harvesters. 

The State Department said it is aware of the arrests and is tracking the situation.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.