Channel 14 has learned that ahead of the upcoming olive harvest season in Judea and Samaria, the IDF and Central Command are preparing to enforce a major shift in operational policy. For the first time, Arab harvesters will be barred from entering agricultural plots and accessing olive groves situated on state-designated land throughout the region.
According to sources familiar with the operational planning, security assessments conducted ahead of the harvest concluded that military and bureaucratic coordination will no longer extend to territories lacking formally recognized, verified private ownership. In practice, IDF forces are slated to deploy roadblocks, checkpoints, and containment perimeters to deny harvesters access to state lands actively.
The decision comes against the backdrop of an olive harvest projected by agricultural and botanical experts to be exceptionally bountiful this season. The defense establishment anticipates that, because of the heavy yield and elevated market value of olive oil, Arab farmers will intensify efforts to access contested parcels or tracts designated as state land.
For years, the harvest period in Judea and Samaria involved coordinated security arrangements mediated between IDF officers, the Civil Administration, and Palestinian counterparts. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) routinely facilitates pre-season coordination meetings with Palestinian Authority officials to map out harvesting schedules.
Now, according to details obtained by Channel 14, the IDF is establishing a definitive operational boundary separating harvest activity on recognized private plots from encroachment onto state lands. Settlement leadership figures have long argued that the harvest season has been systematically weaponized to establish unauthorized facts on the ground in Area C, often adjacent to Israeli communities and primary transit routes, creating direct security friction with Israeli residents and military units.
A senior settlement official in Judea and Samaria welcomed the move: “After years of lawlessness in which agricultural pretenses were transformed into bridgeheads for hostile takeovers of state land, the IDF is finally restoring governance. State lands are not ownerless property, and they are certainly not a prize for those seeking to undermine Zionism. This is an essential first step toward re-establishing security, sovereignty, and order throughout Judea and Samaria.” Security agencies are also bracing for potential riots, friction, and staged protests by activists and non-governmental organizations seeking to challenge the updated field guidelines. Officials confirmed that field units will operate under explicit directives: facilitate lawful harvesting solely on verified private plots, while maintaining a strict zero-tolerance policy against entry onto state lands.