A prominent Israeli rabbi on Friday issued a religious ruling that would allow Israeli Jews to steal olives from Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, with several Israeli media outlets affiliated with the religious Zionist movement, including Channel 7, publishing the religious edict.
The ruling, issued by prominent religious Zionist rabbi Dov Lior, said that the olives belong to the Jewish people, and that taking the crops represents the implementation of what he described as the "commandment to occupy the land".
The ruling, titled “In response to numerous enquiries regarding olive harvesting in the groves throughout Judea, Samaria and Binyamin” — biblical names used by Israelis to refer to areas of the occupied West Bank — states that “the people of Israel have never relinquished the Land of Israel, as we express in our daily prayers".
This comes amid escalating Israeli settler violence and terrorism targeting Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank, with mobs stealing tractors, setting alight olive trees, and damaging cars.
Lior further claims that "the Arabs never purchased the land from the people of Israel or from any Jew, and therefore it is usurped in their hands".According to his assertion, Palestinians “did not acquire ownership of it by any means, and it has remained the property of the people of Israel".
The rabbi further states that if Palestinian farmers cannot reach their crops for security reasons, it can be assumed that they have abandoned the crops.
“If they planted trees that bear fruit, such as olives, the principle of despairing of recovering them applies to them. Therefore, if they are unable to harvest them for security reasons, it should be assumed that they have given up on them — and all the more so that they have given up on olives that have already been picked," the rabbi said.
He adds that even if the owners of the trees were entitled to compensation for cultivating them, they had already received sufficient produce from them over previous years. He maintains that the land and its fruits should ultimately return to what he describes as the ownership of the Jewish people.
Lior goes so far as to declare that settlers harvesting olives from Palestinian land is “entirely permissible". He adds that this act contains an “additional virtue”, given the security risks supposedly posed by Palestinians approaching settlements and settlement outposts.
His position is not limited to olive harvesting on land adjacent to settlements. He extends the ruling to groves farther away, stating: “Jews are permitted to harvest olives even in areas far from Jewish settlements, in order to publicly demonstrate our ownership of the land, and thereby fulfil the commandment to conquer the land.”
Dov Lior is one of the most prominent rabbis associated with Israel’s religious-nationalist movement. He previously served as the chief rabbi of the Kiryat Arba settlement near Hebron. Lior is known for his hard-line religious and political positions towards Palestinians and his support for expanding settlements in the West Bank. He wields influence among settlers and religious movements associated with the settlement movement.
Israeli media reported that Lior’s ruling came in response to a religious ruling issued last Tuesday by seven rabbis from settlements in the Gush Etzion bloc, south of Bethlehem. Those rabbis prohibited settlers from stealing olives from Palestinian land, even when Israeli forces prevent the owners from accessing their property for security reasons.
The rabbis, including Ze’ev Whitman, Uri Lifshitz, Avi Bliedstein and Moshe Shifter, argued that preventing Palestinians from reaching their groves does not mean they have relinquished ownership of the harvest. They stressed that seizing the olives constitutes "theft forbidden by religious law and a desecration of God’s name".
The seven rabbis based their position on provisions of Jewish religious law prohibiting the theft of property belonging to non-Jews. They emphasised that even if the landowners were assumed to have abandoned their fruit, this would not make it permissible for others to take it.
The Tzohar movement, which includes prominent rabbis, also joined the opponents of Lior’s ruling on Friday. It stated that “theft is forbidden from any person, whether Jewish or non-Jewish”, and that individuals do not have the authority to confiscate property.
The circulation of the ruling comes amid escalating attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinian farmers during the current olive harvest season. These attacks have included beatings, gunfire, the theft of crops, the burning of trees and vehicles, and preventing farmers from accessing their land.
Several areas of the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate witnessed widespread settler attacks on olive pickers on Friday. The attacks targeted the villages of Abu Falah, Turmus Ayya, Burqa and Deir Jarir, causing injuries among Palestinians and resulting in olive trees and vehicles being set on fire.
Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law.