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Rabbi Dov Lior's ruling that settlers may take Palestinian olives draws rabbinic backlash
The far-right cleric's edict came as the West Bank harvest turned violent. Other rabbis called it theft, ten days before Israel votes.
Key points
- Rabbi Dov Lior ruled that settlers may take olives from Palestinian orchards in the West Bank.
- Tzohar, a group of 800 Orthodox rabbis, said only the state can confiscate property.
- On Friday alone, at least 19 people were injured in 34 attacks on Palestinian harvesters.
A ruling by one of the most influential rabbis of Israel’s far-right settler movement, permitting Jews to take olives from Palestinian orchards in the occupied West Bank, has drawn sharp criticism from other rabbis as the harvest season turns violent.
Rabbi Dov Lior, who was born in Poland in 1933, issued the religious ruling on Friday. He argued that Palestinian landowners kept from their groves during the harvest had been compensated in years when they did have access, and described taking the fruit as an “additional virtue”. Settlers, he wrote, should “conquer the land” to “demonstrate our ownership”. The ruling describes the orchards as “stolen land in their hands”, on the claim that Arabs never bought the land from Jews.
Other rabbis push back
The religious council of rabbis in the Gush Etzion settlements called the practice theft, “blasphemy, and a moral defect”. Tzohar, an organisation of 800 Orthodox rabbis, said only the state can confiscate property, and that Arab ownership of the olives stands for as long as the state recognises it.
Gilad Kariv, a Knesset member from the Democrats party, said: “Whoever stands on the sidelines in this issue joins the camp of Rabbi Dov Lior and his criminals.”
Analyst Mamoun Abu Amer said some of the rejections may be politically driven. Lior carries weight with hardline groups such as the Hilltop Youth and is the spiritual guide of Otzma Yehudit, the Jewish Power party led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Israelis vote on 27 October, and far-right parties are courting settler votes.
A violent harvest
On Friday alone, at least 19 people were injured in 34 attacks by Israeli troops and settlers on Palestinians harvesting their crops, and five vehicles were set on fire. Heidi Levine, an American photojournalist working for The Washington Post, was knocked down and kicked near Abu Falah, suffering a broken rib and four broken vertebrae. “They just kept kicking me and kicking me, like probably 50 times,” she said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office condemned the attack on Levine but said the facts “remain unclear” and were under investigation. “Those responsible will be held accountable,” it said.
The violence continued on Saturday, when masked settlers attacked a delegation of European diplomats visiting olive pickers near Taybeh.