An Israeli lawmaker entered a Palestinian village escorted by Israeli soldiers and smashed a monument with a sledgehammer on Tuesday, in a provocative act that comes amid rising violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
As the lawmaker, Zvi Sukkot, a member of a far-right political party, struck the limestone monument in the village of Madama, at least two soldiers stood nearby, according to video footage verified by The New York Times. No soldiers are seen in the footage trying to stop him.
Mr. Sukkot later defended his actions, saying the monument included the names of individuals who were involved in attacks against Israelis.
In a statement, the Israeli military said Mr. Sukkot and his aides had participated in a tour of Palestinian communities on Tuesday under the protection of soldiers but had “acted deceptively and manipulatively, without authorization, departing entirely from the approved framework, and began demolishing one of the monuments in Madama.”
The statement said that the soldiers had “reported the incident to their commanders, who instructed them to stop the activity,” and that Mr. Sukkot and his aides had been “quickly escorted out of the village.”
Asked why Mr. Sukkot and those accompanying him had been allowed to record videos before the troops took action, the Israeli military said the soldiers had stopped the “demolishing within minutes” and that “any claim that the soldiers stood by idly directly contradicts what happened in practice.”
As the occupying force in the West Bank, the Israeli military is responsible under international law for protecting Palestinian civilians and maintaining law and order there.
The office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that “taking the law into one’s own hands, particularly by public figures, is unacceptable.”
The monument in Madama features an outline of all the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River with “Palestine” inscribed in Arabic in the middle. The monument also bears the names of “people killed by the enemy” going back decades, according to Rami Nassar, the mayor of Madama, which is in the northern West Bank.
At least one name on the monument is that of a Palestinian militant, Yamen Faraj. Mr. Faraj was a commander of the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades, a military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israeli officials have said that Mr. Faraj was involved in a suicide bombing in 2003.
In a social media post, Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s hard-line finance minister and the leader of Mr. Sukkot’s party, said Israel “should have long ago dismantled the terror monument.” He said there were dozens of other such monuments across the West Bank that the Israeli military should destroy.
While the monument in Madama was still standing after the attack, the damage was significant enough that it was beyond repair, Mr. Nassar said.
Mr. Nassar said he was outraged by the military’s failure to intervene immediately.
“They provided a shield for this criminal act,” he said. “We’re living in a situation that is becoming more and more extreme.”
The episode in Madama occurred on the same day that the Israeli authorities took over a center in the Jerusalem area run by UNRWA, the United Nations agency that provides services to Palestinian refugees. Mr. Netanyahu said he had ordered the evacuation of the structure, which UNRWA said was a longtime vocational training center.
James McManagan contributed reporting.
