Rabbi Dov Lior allowed settlers to take olives from Palestinian orchards — Al Jazeera

Israeli Rabbi Dov Lior issued a religious ruling allowing settlers to take olives from Palestinian orchards in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. As Al Jazeera reports, Lior claims that Palestinian owners who were unable to reach their orchards during the harvest because of Israeli restrictions had allegedly already been sufficiently compensated in years when they had access to the olives.

According to the rabbi's ruling, harvesting these olives may serve as grounds for claims to ownership of Palestinian land. Lior also said that settlers should “conquer the land” far from Jewish communities in order to publicly demonstrate ownership rights and fulfill a biblical commandment.

Attacks during the harvest

The ruling was made public amid a new wave of attacks on Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest season. On Friday, at least 19 people were injured in 34 attacks by Israeli military personnel and settlers against Palestinians harvesting crops across the West Bank.

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An American photojournalist working for The Washington Post was attacked by settlers while covering the violence. Five vehicles were also set on fire. According to Al Jazeera, many Palestinian farmers cannot reach their land because of Israeli restrictions and the danger of settler attacks.

Reaction from religious leaders

Not all rabbis supported Lior's position. In a letter, rabbis from the religious council of the Gush Etzion settlements called the unlawful harvesting of Palestinian crops theft, blasphemy, and a moral vice.

The Tzohar organization, which includes 800 Orthodox rabbis, stated that only the state has the right to confiscate property. It stressed that as long as the state recognizes Arabs' right to these olives, they belong to them. Knesset member Gilad Kariv of the Democrats party also criticized Lior and his supporters.