US nominee Brad Lander released after West Bank detention

United States Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander was released from Israeli military custody on Wednesday after being detained alongside dozens of volunteers. The group had been helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the occupied West Bank near the village of Nahalin outside Bethlehem.

Lander stated he received a warning upon release, attributing his freedom to his public profile as a likely future member of Congress. He noted that several dozen others, including rabbis and international volunteers, remained in detention. The activist called for their immediate release following the incident.

Becca Strober of the Protect the Harvest Coalition said soldiers declared the area a closed military zone without prior notice. She described the day as peaceful with no conflict before the detentions began. Volunteers were held in the field before being transferred to a police station for processing.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused Lander of staging a calculated political provocation by entering a restricted security area without approval. The ministry claimed his team had been instructed to coordinate with authorities but ignored those directions. Officials alleged the visit was designed to generate headlines rather than support agricultural work.

Anton Goodman of Rabbis for Human Rights indicated that non-citizen volunteers faced transfer to a military base. Lander criticized the detentions as an attempt to undermine Palestinian rights to access their land. He described the actions as part of escalating state-sponsored ethnic cleansing against local populations.