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.Prominent Israeli Rabbi Dov Lior issued a Jewish religious ruling on Friday permitting settlers to steal olives from Palestinian orchards in 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.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Palestinians, US journalist attacked in West Bank pogrom: What we knowlist 2 of 3Jerusalem Daily: Israeli settlers burn Palestinian olive groveslist 3 of 3Israeli raids and arrests in southern Syria push population to the brinkend of listLior, 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...