Far-right Israeli lawmaker Zvi Sukkot filmed himself taking a sledgehammer to a Palestinian memorial in the village of Madama during IOF-escorted West Bank tour, on 25 Aug 2026. The village has faced repeated settler attacks, along with the uprooting of thousands of trees.
In the video, Sukkot — a member of the Religious Zionism Party — stated that:
This is something we cannot leave standing here, because any place that glorifies terrorism, we must remove it.
The monument was erected in 2008 in memory of the Palestinians who died in both the first and second intifadas, and the battle of Karameh. The battle took place over the course of one day in 1968, with forces from the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Jordan on one side and Israel on the other.
‘Deceptively and manipulatively’
Sukkot and several aides, flanked by soldiers and a military vehicle as he approached the monument, hammer in hand. The IOF stated that it was providing ‘security’ for the lawmaker as he toured the area. However, it added that Sukkot “acted deceptively and manipulatively, without authorization”.
The Israeli military claimed that its soldiers eventually stopped Sukkot and escorted him away, before reporting his attack on the memorial.
However, in the video the IOF soldiers can clearly be seen standing nearby, apparently unperturbed:
Israeli election posturing
Sukkot filmed his little stunt in the run-up to the Israeli general elections on October 27. As such, even several of his fellow far-right-wingers like PM Netanyahu was keen to distance himself too — but only in process terms, complaining that public figures ‘taking the law into one’s own hands’ distracts the army from its ‘missions’. Not a word about the village.
Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s primary rival, took the opportunity for points-scoring:
Netanyahu… is allowing anarchists like Zvi Sukkot and his ilk to do as they please, endangering security in the settlements and damaging Israel’s standing in the world.
However, Religious Zionism Party leader and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich criticised the:
frantic rush of the left-wing opposition to condemn Sukkot rather than terrorism itself.
If this ‘left-wing’ is referring to Eisenkot’s Yashar party, Smotrich is of course sorely mistaken.
On Monday 24 August, IOF Major-General Avi Bluth is understood to have informed Netanyahu that increasing settler violence could ignite a significant escalation. Bluth is head of IOF central command and leader of the occupier’s military operations in the West Bank.
The BBCstated that:
In a number of previous incidents involving settler violence, soldiers have been filmed standing by without intervening.
Featured image via the Canary
By Grace
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