A Palestinian research center said Monday that an Israeli rabbi had issued a religious ruling describing the seizure of Palestinian olive crops in the occupied West Bank as "permissible and even virtuous," amid widespread attacks on farmers during the annual harvest season.
The Palestinian Center for Israeli Studies (Madar) said in a report that Rabbi Dov Lior, a former rabbi of the Kiryat Arba settlement and a religious authority associated with Israel's far-right Jewish Power party, issued the ruling on Oct. 16.
Lior declared that taking Palestinian olives in the West Bank is "completely permissible" and even carries "additional virtue," according to the report.
The rabbi argued that Palestinians prevented from accessing their olive groves for security reasons could be considered to have abandoned their crops, making them available for others to take.
He also claimed that the land belongs to the Jewish people under Jewish religious law and that Palestinians who planted olive trees had already received compensation through harvests collected over previous years.
The Madar report, written by researcher Walid Habbas, examined the ruling as part of broader Israeli policies and practices affecting Palestinian olive harvesting in the occupied territory.
Citing Israeli rights organization Yesh Din, Madar said hundreds of attacks by Israeli occupiers and soldiers had been documented across 171 Palestinian communities since the beginning of this year's olive harvest season.
It said Palestinians were completely prevented from harvesting olives in 68 cases, while crops were stolen in 119 cases.
The report also highlighted restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on Palestinian farmers' access to their agricultural land.
Citing a decision reported by Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom in September, Madar said Palestinian farmers would no longer be permitted to harvest olives on land classified by Israel as "state land" across the West Bank.
It added that harvesting on privately owned land would also be subject to prior security coordination with Israeli authorities.
Madar said the restrictions, combined with the expansion of Israeli settlement outposts, have increasingly prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing their olive groves.
The report also referred to recent attacks on foreign nationals accompanying Palestinian farmers, including American photojournalist Heidi Levine and a European diplomatic delegation.
Levine, a photographer for The Washington Post, was assaulted by Israeli occupiers while covering the olive harvest near Ramallah on Friday.
A day later, masked Israeli occupiers attacked vehicles carrying European diplomats during an olive-harvesting visit to the West Bank town of Taybeh, damaging at least one vehicle.
The report cited figures from an Israeli Civil Administration document showing that Palestinian olive groves cover approximately 845,000 dunams (208,800 acres) and contain around 12.6 million trees.
More than 100,000 Palestinian families depend on olive cultivation for their livelihoods, according to the document.
Israeli Channel 13 previously reported Lior's religious ruling on Friday, saying he had permitted Israeli occupiers to take Palestinian olive crops, including from areas beyond the immediate vicinity of illegal Israeli settlements.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. Israeli settlements in the occupied territory are illegal under international law.
