Zvi Sukkot, a far‑right member of Israel’s Knesset, hammered a Palestinian memorial in the village of Madama, West Bank, with a sledgehammer while under military escort.
Footage posted on social media shows Sukkot and a small group striking the stone monument that commemorates Palestinians killed in the 1968 battle of Karameh and the first two intifadas. The politician, a member of the Religious Zionism party, announced, “This is something we cannot leave standing here…any place that glorifies terrorism must be removed.”
Village council head Rami Nasar explained that the memorial was erected in 2008 to honor “Palestinians killed in conflict with Israel, regardless of political affiliation.” He said the plaque’s removal would erase an integral part of the village’s cultural memory.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) stated that soldiers had been present during the assault, but ‘the law‑less conduct of the settler group was undertaken without authorization.’ Soldiers reportedly stopped the group at a nearby site and, after reporting the incident to their commanders, escorted them out of Madama.
Settler‑related violence has surged across the West Bank in recent months, with officers sometimes seen standing by without intervening – a pattern that has drawn international condemnation.
The attack drew swift censure from Israeli political leaders. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautioned that “taking the law into one’s own hands... [prevents] the IDF from focusing on its missions of combating terrorism and incitement to violence.” Opponent Gadi Eisenkot called the act a “disgrace for public leadership,” while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich defended the Sukkot faction’s “frantic rush of the left‑wing opposition.”
Major General Avi Bluth, the senior IDF officer deployed in the West Bank, reportedly warned Netanyahu that the ongoing wave of settler violence could spark a major escalation. The incident has intensified calls for tighter security around Palestinian memorials and a crackdown on extremist rhetoric.
