Netanyahu Rebukes MK Sukkot Over Vigilante Actions in Samaria

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday sharply criticized Knesset member Tzvi Sukkot after the far-right lawmaker led a group into Palestinian villages in Samaria to smash monuments commemorating terrorists, with the incident triggering an unusually broad wave of condemnation across Israel's political spectrum, according to the Times of Israel.

Netanyahu criticized MK Tzvi Sukkot for entering Arab villages in Samaria to destroy monuments to terrorists, saying the MK took the law into his own hands. In a statement, Netanyahu said "The [Israel Defense Forces] has overriding authority on security in Judea and Samaria and is entrusted with implementing the decisions of the political echelon," and added that "Taking the law into one's own hands, particularly by public figures, is unacceptable and hinders the IDF from focusing on its missions of combating terror and incitement."

The incident, which the Jerusalem Post reported took place in the village of Kafr Madama near Nablus, saw Sukkot filming on his personal phone while someone else struck the monument with a sledgehammer, with Israeli forces seen guarding the MK and those accompanying him, and a military vehicle blocking the street. According to the Jerusalem Post, the IDF confirmed it had diverted troops from standard operational duties to guard Sukkot and his aides on what he called a "memorial tour" in several villages in Areas A and B in the West Bank. The military accused the group of acting in bad faith, stating that "Contrary to the coordination, the participants acted deceitfully and manipulatively, without authority and in complete violation of the approved framework, and began demolishing one of the memorials in the village of Madama," claiming soldiers spoke with commanders after seeing what was happening and were instructed to intervene and remove the group from the village.

HNGN noted the sensitivity of the location, reporting that the tour took Sukkot into "a Palestinian village in Area A — territory where Palestinian civil and security authority is formally recognized under the Oslo framework."

The political backlash was swift and crossed party lines. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar wrote on social media that Sukkot "is not the sovereign in the territories of Judea and Samaria," and that all decisions must be made by the state in conjunction with security forces, adding "This is also what public representatives should convey to the public. Regrettably, MK Sukkot knowingly did the exact opposite." Opposition MK Gilad Kariv of the Democrats party said the military had denied his own consistent requests to escort him to Kusra, citing a lack of available forces, and wrote, "It turns out there are available forces to escort the arsonist to the heart of a Palestinian village," adding that just a day earlier the Central Command's commander had warned that it would take just one match to ignite the West Bank.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett went further, arguing in a statement carried by the Times of Israel that Netanyahu's "government of chaos is harming Israel's security and Israel's standing in the world in order to gain views on TikTok," declaring that "terrorism is fought with actions, not with pathetic provocations." Democrats chairman Yair Golan invoked Sukkot's history, recalling Sukkot's participation in an ultranationalist mob that broke into an IDF base in 2024. Separately, Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of allowing "anarchists" to operate unchecked, according to the Jerusalem Post, which reported him saying Sukkot "lied and deceived the IDF and its commanders, harmed security and tarnished the entire State of Israel."

Not all reaction was critical of Sukkot himself. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party to which Sukkot belongs, defended the underlying goal while directing his fire at critics, saying according to JNS that "There are dozens more such terror monuments throughout Judea and Samaria that should be destroyed today by the IDF—and by the IDF alone." JNS reported that Smotrich then called out the "left-wing opposition leaders' rush to condemn MK Sukkot rather than terrorism itself," asserting that their opponents' plan was to "form a government with clear supporters of terrorism, evacuate the communities and farms we established in Judea and Samaria, and create a terror state in the heart of the country."

Netanyahu's office, as reported by the Times of Israel, has publicly panned the episode as Sukkot's "unacceptable" smashing of a Palestinian monument, though it remains unclear whether Netanyahu or his government will pursue any formal disciplinary or legal steps against the lawmaker. The Times of Israel also reported that the army's West Bank chief had separately warned the prime minister that settler attacks could risk sparking a broader Palestinian terror outbreak, underscoring the security stakes surrounding unauthorized actions by public officials in the territories. No further government action had been announced as of Tuesday evening.