Israeli MK Tzvi Sukkot Destroys Terrorist Memorials in West Bank Villages

On Tuesday morning, Israeli Member of Knesset Tzvi Sukkot visited the Palestinian villages of Madama and Burin, located south of Nablus, to dismantle and destroy memorials dedicated to terrorists involved in attacks against Israelis and IDF soldiers. The operation was conducted with the presence and coordination of Israeli military and Border Police forces. Sukkot, who heads the Knesset Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria Affairs, stated that he had previously requested the army to remove these memorials, but they remained intact.

In Madama, the memorial honored Yaman Tayeb Ali Faraj, who according to information cited in a Supreme Court ruling, was involved in dispatching the terrorist responsible for the Gha'ah Junction attack. That attack resulted in the deaths of Adva Fisher, Noam Leibovitz, Angelina Shcherov, and Rotem Weinberger, and injured over 20 people. In Burin, the memorial commemorated Hamdan Hussein Mahmoud al-Najar, who in December 1988 killed Yaakov Faraj near Har Bracha and subsequently opened fire on an IDF force, killing Corporal Arthur Hertzig and wounding two other soldiers before being killed himself.

Sukkot emphasized that after his demands to the army to remove the memorials were ignored, he took it upon himself to act. He stated, "We cannot allow those who harmed Jews and IDF soldiers to be commemorated as heroes and presented as role models to the next generation." He further explained that the fight against terrorism also includes combating its glorification, saying, "Many Jews lost their lives due to terrorists from these villages. We will not allow murderers of Jews to be turned into heroes or for the commemoration of terror to become part of our public space."