IDF Chief Approves Sukkot Monument Tour Despite Concerns

New details emerged Wednesday regarding Knesset member Zvi Sukkot's tour to the Palestinian village of Madama in the West Bank. According to security sources, he approached the Israel Defense Forces several weeks earlier requesting coordination for a "monument tour," but military officials initially declined, citing lack of operational capacity and available forces due to ongoing military activity near the village of Qusra.

Both locations fall under the jurisdiction of the Samaria Regional Brigade. The IDF explained to Sukkot that diverting forces for the tour would come at the expense of operations in Qusra. Security sources say he then threatened to proceed with the tour independently, accompanied only by Knesset security personnel rather than IDF protection.

Military officials feared a scenario in which Palestinians from the village, located in Area B, where the Palestinian Authority has civil control, might attempt to harm the lawmaker without adequate security forces present to respond. The IDF contacted Sukkot, requesting he refrain from conducting an independent tour, and promised to coordinate an approved and secured visit once the Qusra incidents subsided. He agreed, and the tour was ultimately scheduled for this morning.

Meanwhile, independent of Sukkot's initiative, the IDF had already planned to demolish the monument in Madama and set a date for the operation. According to the details, the demolition was scheduled for next month, in September, regardless of the lawmaker's tour.

Zvi Sukkot destroys monument honoring terrorists

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir personally authorized Sukkot's tour due to the sensitivity of the matter during an election period. This came just a month after Zamir distributed a document throughout the military establishing that "tours to locations with a political character should be avoided, with emphasis on prohibiting the use of the IDF for propaganda purposes."

Soldiers from the 411th Artillery Battalion, who hold positions in the sector and were required to provide security for Sukkot in the Palestinian village, criticized the incident. "It was predictable that there would be chaos there, we felt like our time and forces were being wasted," they testified.

According to the soldiers, "The feeling is that this isn't what we came to this sector for. We're coming off nights without sleep, lots of operational activities, entering houses, searching for wanted persons and weapons, and the feeling is that they simply wasted our time. We have to deal with things like this all the time, it was predictable this would happen. We're stuck here between Jewish terror and Palestinian terror."

Commanders who oversaw the incident reported being "in shock" when Sukkot and his aides pulled hammers from their vehicle upon arriving at the monument.