Prominent Israeli Rabbi Dov Lior issued a religious ruling on Friday permitting settlers to steal olives from Palestinian orchards in the occupied West Bank, as violence and property destruction continued across the region.
Rabbi Dov Lior Issues Ruling Permitting Olive Seizure
Prominent Israeli Rabbi Dov Lior issued a Jewish religious ruling on Friday that authorizes settlers to pick olives from Palestinian orchards across the occupied West Bank. The ruling argues that Palestinian landowners who could not reach their groves during the harvest season because of Israeli military restrictions have already received sufficient compensation during previous years when they accessed the fruit.
Born in Poland in 1933, Lior stated that taking olives from Palestinian farms constitutes an additional virtue
. He urged settlers to conquer the land
far away from existing Jewish communities, according to reporting.
The Arabs never purchased the land from the Jewish people or from any individual Jew, and therefore it is stolen land in their hands… They never bought it in any way and it remained under the ownership of the Jewish people.
Rabbi Dov Lior
Rising Violence Disrupts the Annual West Bank Harvest
The religious decree coincides with a sharp escalation in confrontations during the annual fall olive harvest, which serves as a vital economic pillar and cultural symbol for Palestinians. The United Nations documented more than 200 settler attacks against Palestinians during the current harvest season, surpassing the 185 incidents recorded during the 2025 season.
Top Israeli rabbi issues ruling permitting settlers to steal Palestinian olive harvest——Israeli Rabbi Dov Lior has issued a religious ruling permitting Israeli settlers to take olives from Palestinian-owned land across the occupied West Bank, claiming that harvesting the crop… pic.twitter.com/nsapr3TN6a
These assaults have wounded several people and damaged olive trees. In one incident, three Palestinians were injured after settlers assaulted them while harvesting olives in Asira Al-Qibliya on Friday. Near Birzeit and Burham, a 70-year-old man suffered fractures after being beaten by settlers.
Journalists and Foreign Diplomats Caught in West Bank Clashes
The volatile conditions on the ground have targeted international observers and press workers. Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was beaten by masked settlers while covering the harvest near the villages of Abu Falah and Turmus Ayya. Levine suffered a broken rib, multiple broken vertebrae, and lacerations.
They are Jewish terrorists and they are giving everyone in the country a horrible reputation. I cannot understand how a parent can raise such individual monsters. They’re not even humans.
Heidi Levine, photojournalist, via JNS
The Foreign Press Association reported that the attackers also stole Levine’s passport, phone, wallet, and camera equipment. In a separate incident, Israeli police opened an investigation into online footage showing foreign diplomats from France, Belgium, and Poland being attacked in the village of Taybeh. The Israeli military stated that the diplomatic visit had not been coordinated with military authorities and that no soldiers were stationed at the scene.
Political Repercussions and Government Response
The ruling and subsequent violence have provoked intense domestic debate within Israel. Mamoun Abu Amer, an analyst on Israeli politics, told Al Jazeera that rejections of Lior’s comments by other rabbis may be driven by political pressures to portray the perpetrators as isolated fringe elements rather than a reflection of mainstream settlement views.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office stated that the circumstances in which Levine was allegedly assaulted are unclear and under investigation, and that there are serious questions
regarding whether Israelis or Palestinians were responsible, according to JNS.