NY congressional nominee Brad Lander says he was detained by the IDF in the West Bank

Lefty congressional nominee Brad Lander claimed Wednesday he was “detained” by the Israeli Defense Forces while working on an olive harvest in the West Bank. Lander, the former Big Apple Comptroller who is running for Congress in the Nov. 3 election, posted a picture of himself glaring at the camera while onboard a bus with others who were on their phones and didn’t seem fazed. “I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis & volunteers,” Lander posted on X. “We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank.”

Brad Lander was detained in the West Bank. @bradlander/X It is unclear if Lander, who is vying for New York’s 10th Congressional District seat, was doing anything else besides olive harvesting. “The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know,” he added. Lander had bested outgoing Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) in their June primary, mounting a challenge against him from the left. Lander, who is Jewish, has been an outspoken critic of Israel.

During his primary against Goldman and his unsuccessful run for mayor last year, Lander made Israel a top issue. Explore More Ex-White House press secretary Katie Zacharia flaunts six-pack in sunny SoCal after firing Ilhan Omar reemerges to beg supporters for cash as probe into her immigration status intensifies Motive for fatal, rush-hour George Washington Bridge shooting revealed, victim ID’d as Con Ed worker: cops The Dem candidate has opposed unconditional military aid to the Jewish state and accused it of carrying out a genocide in the Gaza Strip after the bloody Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

“I think — with deep sadness — that Israel’s conduct in Gaza meets the definition of genocide. But even if you don’t, it’s profoundly inconsistent with the Jewish value that every one of those Palestinian kids were created in the image of God, just like ours,” he posted on X in June. Lander also contended that “Israel can’t be a genuine democracy while it’s occupying the West Bank & Gaza.” Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli human rights group, corroborated Lander’s claim about being detained and said 90 other volunteers were held by the IDF as well, while harvesting olives in Nahalin, outside Bethlehem.

Lander had described his venture to the West Bank as a mission to help Palestinians with their harvest and to put the spotlight on conditions there. @bradlander/X Authorities designated the area they were working in as a military zone closed for a full day, according to the group. Officials then checked the group for identification, despite the group’s leaders offering to leave voluntarily, according to Rabbis for Human Rights’ version of events.

“We came to accompany farmers to land they have not been able to reach in three years, and after two hours of quiet harvesting, large forces arrived and closed the area,” Acting executive director for Rabbis for Human Rights, Anton Goodman, said in a statement. “No one could have known about this order in advance. Instead of protecting people working their own land, the army is removing them from it, and detaining those who came to stand beside them.”

Lander previously described his venture to the West Bank as a mission to help Palestinians with their harvest and to put the spotlight on conditions there. Other lefty pols have had similar run-ins with Israeli authorities. In July, for example, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he and his group were detained by the Israelis for over an hour while in the Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta during a tour.