Knesset Immigration Committee Reopens Debate Over U.S. Volunteers Who Received 10-Year Deportation

The Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee convened today to examine the arrest and 10-year deportation of two American volunteers who joined an olive harvest near the Palestinian village of Burin in the Shomron. The women, U.S. citizens participating in a Zionist-oriented volunteer program, were detained in late October after entering a closed military zone declared by the IDF.

The committee said the case raised broader concerns over Israel’s relationship with Jewish communities abroad, particularly as the women had come to Israel specifically to strengthen that connection. Tensions at the hearing intensified when Israel Police representatives failed to attend, after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir barred them from appearing.

Earlier in October, dozens of foreign volunteers were detained during olive-harvest activities near Burin after the army restricted access due to heightened friction in the area. Later that month, the two American women, Laila Steelman-Oterbeck and Rachel Beth Palmholtz, were again present in the area during an olive-picking effort and were arrested on suspicion of crossing into the restricted zone. After an overnight immigration hearing, they were held at a detention facility in Ramle and expelled from Israel with a 10-year entry ban by the Population and Immigration Authority. Committee chair MK Gilad Kariv noted, “These were volunteers who entered Israel properly,” arguing that the circumstances required closer review. He added that “mitigating circumstances should be considered in cases involving Jewish communal activity or participation in Zionist programs.”

The Population and Immigration Authority told the committee the women were handled like any tourists who violate entry conditions. “There was no indication in the system that they applied for status under the Law of Return,” the authority said. “We apply equal standards to any tourist who violates the terms of their permit.”. Attorney Noam Kahan said the deportation followed a factual description of violating a closed military zone. “When there is a factual description of a violation, we act with the tools available to us,” he said.

The women’s lawyer, Michal Pomerantz, rejected the decision. “There was not a shred of justification for deporting these young women from Israel,” she said. Avi Dabush warned the case harms Diaspora ties: “It is painful that young Jewish people arrive in Israel to strengthen ties with Diaspora communities and find themselves deported.” Shai Glick countered that tourists must not interfere with IDF activities: “Israel should not admit tourists who interfere with the IDF’s work.”

Kariv concluded that the case was “very strange” and damaging, noting that one volunteer is the daughter of a Reform rabbi. “This incident harms the State of Israel,” he said. The committee will formally request that the Population and Immigration Authority reconsider the 10-year deportation order.