Brad Lander, other volunteers released after Israeli detention during West Bank olive harvest

Brad Lander, the former New York City Comptroller and current Democratic congressional nominee for New York's 10th District, was detained by Israeli forces Wednesday while accompanying Palestinian farmers during an olive harvest in the occupied West Bank. Lander was released after about three hours with a warning, while dozens of other volunteers were held for several hours longer. During a Wednesday afternoon call with reporters, Lander said the remaining detainees had also been released, after Mayor Zohran Mamdani earlier demanded their freedom. “I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis volunteers,” Lander wrote in an initial post Wednesday morning. “We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank.” Roughly three hours after his initial post, Lander announced that he had been released, saying he believed his public profile may have played a role. “I’ve been released from IDF custody with a ‘warning,’ apparently because of my public p