The Incident

During a tour of historic sites in the occupied West Bank, far‑right Member of Parliament Zvi Sukkot set out a sledgehammer and struck the stone memorial in the Palestinian village of Madama, causing significant damage to the structure.

Video footage captured Sukkot and several others hammering the monument, which had been erected in 2008 to honor Palestinians killed at the 1968 Karameh battle and during the First and Second Intifadas.

Sukkot was quoted on camera: “This is something we cannot leave standing here, because any place that glorifies terrorism, we must remove it.”

Military and Political Response

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed that soldiers were present during the action but did not intervene until the damage was done. In a later statement, the IDF said that Sukkot and his colleagues acted without authorisation and that soldiers eventually detained the group and escorted them out of Madama.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office condemned the actions as a “reprehensible practice” that undermines security efforts and the IDF’s focus on counter‑terrorism. He criticised the settler’s “taking the law into one’s own hands.”

Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot called Sukkot’s behaviour “a disgrace” for anyone who claims to represent the public and warned that such actions could jeopardise Israel’s global standing.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism Party, expressed anger at the left‑wing rush to condemn Sukkot instead of addressing broader terrorism concerns.

Broader Context

The incident comes amid a string of settler attacks in the West Bank that have attracted international condemnation. A senior military officer, Major General Avi Bluth, warned that the escalating settler violence could ignite a wider conflict.

Madama has recently been the target of several settler attacks, heightening local fears of further aggression. The memorial damage is seen as part of a larger pattern of vandalism and intimidation in Palestinian territories.

The event underscores the volatile relationship between Israeli politicians, the military, and the occupied civilians and highlights the growing wariness of how far‑right politics may influence violent acts on the ground.