Criminal10/18/2026

State Attorney’s Office to Decide Whether to Investigate Rabbi Dov Lior’s Remarks

Police collected materials concerning a halachic ruling by Rabbi Dov Lior that permitted Jews to harvest olives in Palestinian groves. The State Attorney’s Office must now decide whether to open an investigation on suspicion of incitement.

Key facts

•Subject of the review: Rabbi Dov Lior
•Reviewing authorities: Israel Police and the State Attorney’s Office
•The complaint: incitement to racism and violence and solicitation to commit theft
•Complainant: “Rabbis for Human Rights”
•The organization brings together 170 male and female rabbis
•No decision to open an investigation has yet been reported

What Happened

Rabbi Dov Lior issued a halachic ruling stating that Jews are permitted to harvest olives in Palestinian groves and enter the relevant lands. He described such harvesting as entirely permissible and as having a “special virtue,” including on plots located far from Jewish communities.

Who Contacted the Police

The complaint was filed by the organization “Rabbis for Human Rights,” which brings together 170 male and female rabbis. The organization’s acting CEO, Anton Goodman, pointed to suspected incitement to racism and violence, as well as solicitation to steal property.

The Current Stage of the Review

Police collected materials and are awaiting the State Attorney’s Office’s decision on whether to open an investigation against the rabbi on suspicion of incitement. The source does not report any official decision to open a criminal investigation, file an indictment, or take any other final action.

The Dispute Over the Legal and Religious Basis

Rabbis from the Gush Etzion Religious Council had previously declared that harvesting olives in groves belonging to Arabs is absolutely prohibited because the owners had not relinquished their property and taking the crop constitutes serious theft. Lior, by contrast, argued that the land remained the property of the people of Israel and that the grove owners had purportedly relinquished the fruit if they could not harvest it for security reasons. The IDF sharply rejected this halachic ruling and stated that it encourages violent offenses, theft, incitement, and confrontations.

What this means for you

The publication of a halachic ruling does not in itself mean that the actions described in it are permitted under state law. For ordinary Israeli residents, the affair illustrates that calls to enter someone else’s land or take crops may be subject to police review and examination by the State Attorney’s Office, even if they are justified with religious arguments. At this stage, the matter concerns only a decision on whether to open an investigation.

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