Hardline Israeli rabbi ruling on stolen Palestinian olives prompts uproar

A hardline religious ruling justifying the theft of Palestinian olive harvests escalates violence and political tensions before Israeli elections. Save Share Prominent IsraeliRabbi Dov Liorissued a Jewish religious ruling on Friday permitting settlers to steal olives fromPalestinian orchardsin the occupied West Bank. Lior’s ruling claims that Palestinian landowners who could not access their olives during the harvest season due to Israeli restrictions have been sufficiently compensated in the years they had access to the fruit. According to the ruling, Jews are permitted to pick these olives to claim ownership of the Palestinian land. Lior, born in Poland in 1933, went as far as classifying the theft of olives from Palestinian farms as an “additional virtue”, as settler pogroms and Israeli occupation continue in the West Bank. He added that settlers should “conquer the land” far from Jewish communities in order to publicly “demonstrate our ownership” and follow biblical commandment. “The Jewish people have never given up on the Land of Israel, as we express in our prayers every single day,” the ruling continues. “The Arabs never purchased the land from the Jewish people or from any individual Jew, and therefore it is stolen land in their hands… They never bought it in any way and it remained under the ownership of the Jewish people.” The ruling coincides with another wave of settler pogroms against Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest season. OnFriday.at least 19 people were injured in 34 attacks by the Israeli military and settlers on Palestinians harvesting their crops across the West Bank. An American photojournalist working for The Washington Post was assaulted by settlers while covering the daily violence, and five vehicles were torched. Many Palestinian farmers have been unable to access their crops due to Israeli restrictions and the dangers from the settlers. While settler pogroms are not exceptional, they come weeks before Israeli elections, with a push by far-right parties to gain the support of settlers and their supporters. But not all Jewish religious leaders backed the call to steal Palestinian olives. Rabbis from the religious council of the Gush Etzion settlements published a letter calling the illegal harvesting of Palestinian crops theft, blasphemy, and a moral defect. Tzohar, an organisation of 800 orthodox rabbis, said in a statement that only the state has the authority to confiscate property....