Democratic US House candidate Brad Lander said he was released from Israeli military detention with a warning after he was held alongside dozens of volunteers helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
According to Lander, dozens of others, including rabbis and international volunteers, remain in detention. He called for their immediate release.
"I have been released from IDF detention with a 'warning,' apparently because of my public profile," Lander wrote on X. "I told them I'm not even a member of Congress yet — just a candidate."
Lander, a former New York City comptroller and one-time mayoral candidate, was among about 80 volunteers held by Israeli soldiers and police near the village of Nahalin, outside Bethlehem, according to the group Rabbis for Human Rights.
The group, which included American, Israeli, Palestinian, British and Canadian volunteers, had been accompanying Palestinian farmers for about two hours when Israeli forces arrived and told them they were in a closed military zone.
The volunteers were then taken to a police station, according to Rabbis for Human Rights.
The Israeli government has not responded to a request for comment on the incident.
