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Video footage showed Zvi Sukkot striking the stone memorial alongside others in Madama near the Jewish community of Yitzhar as soldiers provided an escort for what had been coordinated as a tour of monuments in the area. Sukkot who chairs the Knesset subcommittee on Judea and Samaria affairs said in the recording that the site glorified terrorism and could not be left standing according to the circulated video carried by both the BBC and Israel National News. The lawmaker had requested that the defense establishment remove such monuments after an exposé by the Hakol Hayehudi site detailed events held around them including distributions of sweets to children but took action himself when authorities did not respond the latter outlet reported. Sukkot later posted on social media that his steps represented only a small taste of what is to come.
The monument erected in 2008 commemorated Palestinians killed in the 1968 Battle of Karameh between Israeli forces and fighters from the PLO and Jordan as well as those who died in the first and second intifadas according to Rami Nasar the head of Madama’s village council who spoke to the BBC. Nasar described the structure as honouring all those killed in conflict with Israel irrespective of their political affiliation. Israel National News however identified one of those memorialised as Yaman Tayeb Ali Faraj whom Supreme Court findings linked to a 2003 terror attack at the Geha Interchange that killed four Israelis and wounded 20 others. Rami Nasar told the Washington Examiner that the community sought to live in peace but viewed the damage as incitement that risked making people explode from within.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had approved the tour for Sukkot and diverted soldiers from operational duties to provide security but that participants acted deceptively without authorisation by deviating from the agreed framework to begin demolishing the memorial. The military described the conduct as serious and an exploitation of the protection afforded by security forces in a statement that distanced the army from the destruction. Soldiers intervened once the incident was reported to commanders and escorted the group out of Madama the IDF added noting that the matter was viewed with severity.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement criticising the act as a reprehensible practice of taking the law into one’s own hands especially by public figures that diverts the IDF from its missions against terrorism and incitement to violence. Gadi Eisenkot Netanyahu’s main rival in the upcoming general election called Sukkot’s behaviour a disgrace for anyone claiming to represent the public and a leader while accusing the premier of allowing anarchists like him to endanger security in settlements and harm Israel’s international standing the BBC reported. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who heads the Religious Zionism party to which Sukkot belongs instead criticised what he termed the frantic rush of the left-wing opposition to condemn the lawmaker rather than terrorism itself according to the coverage.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs data shows that the pace of settler attacks causing casualties or property damage averaged six incidents per day in early 2026 the highest on record with more than 1,000 such events reported by June affecting over 230 communities. The agency documented more than 2,200 Palestinians displaced this year due to settler violence and access restrictions alongside hundreds more from home demolitions by Israeli authorities. Violence across the West Bank has escalated since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 2023 according to reports from Dawn and the Sweden Herald with Madama itself having faced multiple prior settler attacks.
A comparable case occurred in March when an IDF soldier was disciplined for repeatedly striking a memorial to Yasser Arafat in the northern West Bank town of Zababdeh near Jenin with a hammer as the Times of Israel reported. The military at the time said the incident was severe did not align with procedures and led to an immediate inquiry disciplinary action and clarification of protocols for soldiers and commanders. Israeli ministers in early 2025 advanced legislation that would punish vandalism of national sites with up to two years in prison while recognising damage to memorials for IDF soldiers as a crime against their families Haaretz noted at the time.
