Police Investigate Rabbi Dov Lior for Incitement Over Olive Harvest Ruling

By חדשות כיפה

Translated & summarized from Kipa by baba

Religious-rightNeutral tone

Hebrew · 6 newsrooms covering

Israeli police are awaiting a decision from prosecutors on whether to investigate Rabbi Dov Lior for incitement following a ruling permitting Jews to harvest Palestinian olive groves. The IDF condemned the ruling, calling it encouragement for violence and theft. A human rights organization filed a police complaint against Lior for incitement and encouraging theft. Lior's ruling contrasts with a Gush Etzion religious council decision forbidding such actions.

The story in 5 lines · by baba

Police are awaiting a decision on investigating Rabbi Dov Lior for incitement over a ruling on Palestinian olive harvests.
The IDF stated Rabbi Lior's ruling encourages violence, theft, and incitement.
A human rights organization filed a police complaint against Rabbi Lior for incitement and encouraging theft.
Rabbi Lior's ruling permits harvesting Palestinian groves, contrasting with a Gush Etzion religious council decision.
Lior argued that harvesting Palestinian olives fulfills a religious commandment and asserts Israeli ownership.

Police Investigate Rabbi Dov Lior for Incitement Over Olive Harvest Ruling — Editorial illustration generated by baba News, not a photograph of the event.

Israeli police have gathered materials and are awaiting a decision from the State Prosecutor's Office on whether to open an investigation into Rabbi Dov Lior on suspicion of incitement. The review was initiated following a controversial religious ruling published by Lior, which permitted Jews to enter Palestinian lands and harvest their olive groves. Rabbi Lior is considered a senior figure in Religious Zionism and is identified as the rabbi of the Otzma Yehudit party.

Security officials expressed deep reservations about Lior's ruling. The IDF issued an unusual statement declaring that the ruling "encourages violent offenses, theft, incitement, and friction that further inflame the situation." Concurrently, the organization Kol Rabanei for Human Rights, representing approximately 170 rabbis, filed a formal complaint with the police against Rabbi Lior. The organization's acting CEO, Anton Goodman, stated, "Entering the lands of others and taking their crops against the law is not what God wants from us in this land."

Rabbi Lior's opinion was published in contrast to a ruling by rabbis of the Gush Etzion Religious Council, who determined it is strictly forbidden to pick olives from Arab groves near settlements. The Gush Etzion rabbis clarified that taking the fruit constitutes severe theft and desecration of God's name, as the grove owners have not given up possession of their property. They proposed conducting a secured harvest where the yield would be returned to its owners.

In contrast, Rabbi Lior asserted that harvesting Palestinian groves holds "additional merit." He argued that the people of Israel have never given up on the Land of Israel and that Arabs did not purchase the land, which according to Halakha (Jewish law) "is not stolen." He posited that when owners are prevented from harvesting for security reasons, the fruits are considered abandoned property, and Jews are permitted to harvest them, even in distant areas, to assert ownership, promote security, and fulfill the commandment of conquering the land.