Hardline Israeli Rabbi’s Ruling Allowing Theft of Palestinian Olives Sparks Outcry
Prominent Israeli Rabbi Dov Lior issued a religious ruling on Friday that authorises settlers to take olives from Palestinian orchards in the occupied West Bank. The decision argues that Palestinian owners who have been unable to harvest their olives because of Israeli restrictions have already been compensated during the years they could access the fruit, and therefore Jews may now pick the olives to assert ownership of the land.
Lior, born in Poland in 1933, went further by describing the seizure of olives as an “additional virtue” and urged settlers to “conquer the land” far from Jewish communities in order to publicly demonstrate ownership and follow a biblical commandment. The ruling states: “The Jewish people have never given up on the Land of Israel, as we express in our prayers every single day. 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.”
The declaration comes as violence escalates during the olive harvest season. On Friday at least 19 people were injured in 34 attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers against Palestinians harvesting their crops across the West Bank. An American photojournalist working for The Washington Post was assaulted by settlers while covering the clashes, and five vehicles were set on fire. Many Palestinian farmers remain unable to reach their groves because of Israeli restrictions and the threat of settler attacks. The olive press in the town of Qusra began operating on the first day of the harvest, October 9, 2026, in Nablus.
The timing of the ruling coincides with a surge of settler attacks weeks before Israel’s elections, as far‑right parties seek to rally settler support. However, not all Jewish religious leaders endorse Lior’s decree. Rabbis from the Gush Etzion settlement council issued a letter calling the illegal harvesting of Palestinian crops theft, blasphemy and a moral defect. The organization Tzohar, representing some 800 orthodox rabbis, said that only the state has the authority to confiscate property and that, as long as the state recognises Arab ownership of the olives, they belong to the Arab owners.
Mamoun Abu Amer, an analyst of Israeli politics, told Al Jazeera that the opposition from other rabbis may be driven by political pressure to portray Lior’s view as an isolated fringe opinion. He explained that the Israeli government wants to present the rioters as a small group that does not reflect the broader settlement population, suggesting that the violence is limited to “Hilltop Youth” activists.
Lior enjoys considerable influence among hard‑line settler groups such as the Hilltop Youth, who back his uncompromising religious edicts. He is also a key figure in Israel’s Religious Zionist movement and serves as a spiritual adviser to the far‑right Otzma Yehudit party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir. Abu Amer noted that Ben‑Gvir relies on Lior’s biblical interpretations from the Book of Deuteronomy, and that the minister uses TikTok, propaganda and populist rhetoric to tap into what he calls a “market for extremism” in Israeli society after the events of October 7.
Left‑wing Knesset member Gilad Kariv of the Democrats party condemned Lior, accusing the rabbi and his followers of dragging Israel into a flood of moral vice. “Whoever stands on the sidelines in this issue joins the camp of Rabbi Dov Lior and his criminals,” Kariv said.