Hardline Israeli rabbi permits settlers to take West Bank olives

Prominent Israeli rabbi Dov Lior issued a religious ruling on Friday permitting settlers to take olives from Palestinian orchards in the occupied West Bank. Al Jazeera and The Times of Israel both reported that the ruling allows settlers to pick the fruit to demonstrate Jewish ownership of the land. Al Jazeera added that the ruling was condemned by Palestinians and comes amid rising violence before Israeli elections. [1][5]

Lior claimed in his ruling that Palestinian landowners who could not access their trees during harvest season due to Israeli restrictions have received enough compensation in previous years. Al Jazeera reported that Lior was born in Poland in 1933. [1]

The ruling follows physical attacks on olive pickers in the region. UPI and CNN both reported that Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian harvesters on Friday. American photojournalist Heidi Levine of The Washington Post was injured and hospitalised in Ramallah after being attacked while photographing harvesters in Abu Falah near Ramallah, according to UPI. [2][3][4]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, about 80 settlers threw stones and set fire to olive trees during Friday attacks, with Palestinian authorities recording violence across eight villages. Israeli settlers have long carried out acts of violence, intimidation, and property damage against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. [7][8]