Israeli MK Zvi Sukkot Under Fire for Destroying Palestinian Monument in West Bank

Israeli Member of Knesset Zvi Sukkot of the Religious Zionist Party destroyed a Palestinian monument in the village of Madama near Nablus on Tuesday. Video footage shared by Sukkot on X showed him using a sledgehammer to demolish the structure while being escorted by Israeli soldiers. Sukkot defended his actions by stating that monuments glorifying the murderers of Jews encourage terrorism and described the act as a small taste after the IDF had ignored his requests to remove such symbols.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that troops were diverted from other duties to guard Sukkot and his aides for a planned visit to several regions in the West Bank. The IDF stated that the group acted deceitfully and manipulatively by violating the approved framework of the visit to demolish the monument. While the military claimed that commanders eventually ordered the group to be removed from the village, it noted that no footage of the intervention was recorded because no official photographer was assigned to the detail.

Reaction to the incident was sharply critical across the political spectrum. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar stated that MKs are not the sovereign in Judea and Samaria and that decisions to destroy monuments must be made exclusively by the state. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of Sukkot's own party, reportedly scolded the MK and demanded he not repeat the action. Other critics included Gadi Eisenkot, who called Sukkot a violent provocateur, and Naftali Bennett, who accused the government of undermining security for the sake of social media views. Yair Golan of The Democrats called for Sukkot to be imprisoned and removed from the Knesset.

Framing of the event varied by political lean. Center-right coverage focused heavily on the internal political fallout and the specific accusations of security failures and political suicide. Center-left coverage emphasized the right-wing nature of the MK and the potential for the act to ignite further conflict in the occupied territories.