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Mamdani-Backed Congressional Candidate Brad Lander Says Israeli Military Detained Him in West Bank
ReMamdani-Backed Congressional Candidate Brad Lander Says Israeli Military Detained Him in West Bank
Brad Lander, a progressive candidate for New York's 10th Congressional District, said he was detained by the Israeli military while harvesting olives with rabbis and volunteers near Nehalim in the West Bank.
Brad Lander, a progressive congressional candidate backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, said he was detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank on Wednesday morning while taking part in an olive harvest with a group of rabbis and volunteers.
In a post on X, Lander said he and the others were being held by the Israel Defense Forces near Nehalim. «I've been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis & volunteers. We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank,» he wrote. «The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn't a crime under any law I know.»
Rabbis for Peace, the group accompanying Lander, posted a photo of him and said he had been detained «by Israeli police for standing with Palestinians during the olive harvest.» In a video shared by the group, Lander, who is Jewish, said the Palestinians whose land it is have a right to harvest it in peace. It was not immediately clear whether Lander had been released or what the terms of his detention were. His campaign and Mamdani's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The detention places a New York City political figure at the center of a dispute over land and agricultural access in the occupied West Bank, where olive harvesting has repeatedly drawn the involvement of Israeli security forces and international volunteers. Lander has long been an outspoken supporter of Palestinian rights, a position that has shaped his political profile as he campaigns for Congress.
Lander, a former New York City comptroller, scored an upset primary victory this year against Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. He is one of several anti-establishment candidates Mamdani backed in New York City Democratic primaries this year. New York's 10th Congressional District is overwhelmingly Democratic, meaning Lander is all but assured to win his general election and come to Congress next year.
He is a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which he left in 2023 in response to a rally members held the day after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. His primary win was part of a broader surge of Mamdani-aligned candidates who ousted established Democratic incumbents in the city this year.
Lander is not the first of those candidates to become involved in a confrontation with law enforcement. Socialist candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who defeated Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., in their primary race, said she was knocked to the ground by NYPD officers during a protest against federal immigration authorities shooting an illegal immigrant in the Bronx this month.
The episode also comes amid reported friction between Mamdani's team and at least one socialist candidate he endorsed over the ICE shooting. For Lander, the West Bank detention adds an international dimension to a campaign that has already drawn national attention, and it is likely to intensify scrutiny of his foreign policy positions as he moves toward the general election.
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