New York Democrat Brad Lander said he was briefly detained and released by the Israeli military while he was supporting Palestinian farmers during an olive harvest in the occupied West Bank.
Lander, who is running for Congress, posted a photograph to social media Wednesday showing himself in the back of a filled bus with two men in military garb visible in the background near the front of the vehicle.
"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," said Lander, using an abbreviation for the military, the Israel Defense Forces. "The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn't a crime under any law I know."
Israel's Foreign Ministry said Lander's actions amounted to "political provocation," noting that he chose to enter a restricted area and participate in an unauthorized activity without coordinating with local authorities.
"What makes this stunt even more outrageous is that his own team contacted Israeli representatives in the United States ahead of his visit and was explicitly informed that proper coordination with the relevant authorities was required. He chose to ignore those instructions," the ministry said.
Lander said his team understood that it was generally advised to coordinate with relevant authorities, but he wasn't required to seek permission in this instance. The area his group was in wasn't restricted when they arrived, he said. The military restricted it after they entered the zone, according to Lander.
The Israeli military released him with a warning because of his public profile, he later said. Several other participants harvesting olives are still in detention, he said. He called for their release.
Several U.S. elected officials have made trips to the Israeli-occupied West Bank to document the conditions on the ground there. Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) was detained by armed settlers and then Israeli soldiers when he went to the West Bank in July. Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Jeff Merkley of Oregon also traveled to the region last year.
Attacks in the West Bank have surged in recent years, coinciding with an expansion of Israeli settlements across the occupied territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has come under criticism for failing to stem the spiraling violence, which he says is the work of a small group of juvenile delinquents.
Masked Israeli settlers attacked a group of European diplomats on Saturday. That attack followed a separate incident on Friday where the Washington Post said masked settlers attacked Palestinians and severely beat a photographer working for the newspaper.
Some Israelis blame the escalation on Palestinians who violently confront settlers by throwing stones and sometimes shooting or stabbing settlers. Palestinians and their supporters counter that there are far more incidents instigated by settlers, who live under Israeli civilian law and are under the protection of the military.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there have been more than 2,060 settler attacks causing Palestinian casualties or property damage in 2026 through Oct. 12. Palestinians have also attacked settlers, but the U.N. agency doesn't publish a directly comparable running incident total; by late July, it had recorded 20 settlers injured by Palestinians in the West Bank.
Lander arrived in the West Bank this past weekend to take part in an effort that brings volunteers to accompany Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.
"Palestinians are here everyday harvesting their olives, trying to protect and save their land, not be pushed off it," Lander said in a video about the trip. "There are Israelis and American Jews and people from all around the world trying to provide a protective presence as part of this broader effort."