Gush Etzion Rabbis Rule: Picking Arab-Owned Olives is Theft

Rabbis in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc have issued a religious ruling stating that it is forbidden for Jews to pick olives from groves belonging to Arabs, particularly when security restrictions prevent the Arab owners from accessing their orchards. The ruling, published by the Gush Etzion Regional Religious Council, rejects the argument that the owners have abandoned their crops due to inaccessibility, thus permitting others to harvest them.

The rabbis explained that the owners' inability to reach their groves does not signify abandonment. They emphasized that even if the owners had despaired of the harvest, olives attached to the ground do not become ownerless. The ruling explicitly labels the act of picking these olives as theft, warning that such actions by observant Jews constitute a desecration of God's name in the eyes of both Jews and non-Jews.

The halachic opinion is signed by rabbis from the settlements of Alon Shvut, Rosh Tzurim, Tekoa, Kfar Etzion, Meitzad, and Elazar, along with the chairman of the Religious Council, Rabbi Rafi Ostroff. The rabbis also referenced a previous ruling by Rabbi Yaakov Ariel from the time of the First Intifada. In that instance, Rabbi Ariel suggested that olive harvesting could be facilitated by Jewish workers or volunteers, with the yield being transferred to the Arab owners after covering harvesting expenses, provided it did not create a security risk.