From the Liveblog of
Friday, October 9, 2026
‘Jews have a prior right over Arabs to everything in this country’: Soldier filmed blocking Palestinians from olive harvest
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNurit Yohanan is The Times of Israel's Palestinian and Arab world correspondent
A soldier was filmed preventing Palestinians who arrived to harvest olives this morning in the Birzeit area near Ramallah from reaching their land, saying: “Jews have a prior right over Arabs to everything in this country. This is a Jewish state.”
The soldier adds: “Right now, this is Area C, and Jews are allowed to [harvest olives].”
Rabbis for Human Rights says its activists arrived to assist Palestinian farmers with the olive harvest on their privately owned land in Area C, where no prior coordination with the Civil Administration was required.
Nevertheless, the organization said, soldiers removed the Palestinians and activists from the area and prevented them from harvesting.
The IDF has not yet commented.
״במדינה יהודית ליהודים יש זכות לפני הערבים לכל דבר״. כך מבהיר הבוקר חייל צה״ל סמוך לביר זית. המשמעות בשטח ברורה: למתנחלים מותר להישאר, והפעילים והפעילות שלנו, שהגיעו לסייע ולעמוד לצד הפלסטינים, נדרשים לעזוב. לדבריו, אלה ההוראות שקיבל ממפקדו.
מול הטרור היהודי והגיבוי הצבאי, אנחנו… pic.twitter.com/57oCrXcru1— קול רבני לזכויות אדם (@RHRIS) October 9, 2026
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