Video surfaces of Israeli coalition MK brawling with Palestinian local council head
"As always, [Yesh Din] publishes half-truths and half-proofs," MK Zvi Sukkot said in a statement denying the NGO's claims.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF MK Zvi Sukkot attends a Religious Zionist Party meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem ,January 23, 2023(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Israeli left-wing NGO Yesh Din released a video on Sunday evening in which Religious Zionist Party MK Zvi Sukkot appears to attack Mohammad Azem, who serves as head of the Sebastia Regional Council near Nablus, in the West Bank.
The video, dated some 18 months ago, shows Sukkot filming the Arab regional council head before lunging at Azem, pushing and attempting to kick him.
They were separated by IDF troops at the scene.
Sukkot: Yesh Din's claims on violent incident are half-truths
Sukkot, who became an MK after his faction head and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich resigned from the Knesset under the Norwegian Law, released a statement denying the claims made by Yesh Din.
According to the MK, he was "attacked by Arab rioters in Sebastia who hurled stones toward his vehicle to kill him and other Israelis in his vehicle. The regional council head arrived at the scene and abused his position to prevent IDF soldiers from reaching the rioters," Sukkot's office claimed.
"As always, [Yesh Din] publishes half-truths and half-proofs," Sukkot added.
Israeli security forces guard while Jews visit at the site of the ancient village of Sebastia, near the West Bank city of Nablus, on April 18, 2022 (credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)
Azem also gave his account of what unfolded during the violent incident with the then-future MK, saying that Sukkot "approached me while filming, I demanded that he stop and he immediately began attacking me" in quotes shared by Yesh Din.
The Sebastia Regional Council head noted that he did not file a complaint to Israel Police because "there is no point" in doing so.
"Tzvi Sukkot finished a hilltop youth training course, received his ranks and went straight into the Knesset," Yesh DIn said in a statement accompanying the released footage. "After successfully bringing in many of their political representatives [to the Knesset] - it seems that those who hung pictures of murderers in their living rooms have now become too moderate for [the hilltop youth]."
Sukkot previously served as the assistant and political advisor of Yossi Dagan, the Samaria Regional Council head. One of the founders of the Evyatar illegal outpost, Sukkot was placed 16th in the unified RZP, Otzma Yehudit and Noam list that won 14 seats in the November election.
