MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv, chairman of the Knesset Committee on Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs, demanded the cancellation of a ban on two American women who were deported from Israel after attempting to participate in a West Bank village’s olive harvest on Tuesday.
While chairing a discussion on the topic, Kariv called the treatment of the two women "humiliating, degrading, and completely disproportionate" and announced that he would “do everything in [his] power to lift the entry ban,” alleging that the ban is “part of an orchestrated campaign designed to intimidate human rights organizations” in the West Bank.
Kariv called for further investigation into the incident, stating that the committee would contact the Justice Ministry for details on the women’s middle-of-the-night interrogations and Israeli law enforcement for a presentation on data regarding other West Bank citizens who were also detained for violating the closed military zone, for a follow-up discussion.
Presence of American-Jewish volunteers intended to 'deter violence'
American Jews Leila Stillman-Otterback and Rachel Bat Palmacholtz were volunteering near Nablus with an organization called Rabbis for Human Rights, whose volunteers were present to "deter violence," according to left-wing organization Achavat Amim, when IDF soldiers reportedly advised participants in the harvest that they were in a closed military zone.
The IDF reportedly detained Stillman-Otterback and Bat Palmacholtz, bringing them to the Ariel police station for questioning. After interrogation, the two were deported and banned from Israel for 10 years for violating the terms of the visitor visas they entered the country with.
A statement from Stillman-Otterback was also read during the committee meeting: "Throughout my life, I have had a connection with Israel, a country I love very much and feel deeply connected to.”
Stillman-Otterback declared that she believes “everyone in the State of Israel deserves peace and to live with dignity” and that her motivation for participating in the harvest was to promote “hope and a future for peace.”
She expressed her unhappiness with the ban, elaborating that she “would love to live in Jerusalem, go to synagogues and holy places,” and that the “incident during the olive harvest has broken [her] relationship with Israel."
Kariv also stated that the committee would contact the IDF to “obtain the contact details for coordinating the arrival of volunteers to assist with olive harvests throughout Judea and Samaria.”
Rising West Bank violence
This incident came amid a rising wave of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
On Tuesday, the IDF detained multiple settlers for arson attacks on Palestinian vehicles, a factory, and agricultural land, in which four were injured.
A recent report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs claimed that settler violence reached a record-breaking high in October since the agency began tracking such incidents in 2006.