Zvi Sukkot, a member of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, was filmed smashing the Palestinian Martyrs' Monument in the village of Madama, south of Nablus, with a sledgehammer.
In a video posted to Facebook, Sukkot said the memorial commemorated two Palestinians who had killed Israelis and argued that it could not be allowed to remain.
“We must take it down,” he said, adding that he wanted the memorial destroyed because children growing up in the village and passing it would be inspired to become “martyrs” themselves.
Sukkot, who chairs the Knesset Education Committee, was accompanied by Israeli military forces during the incident, despite the army later saying that the destruction had not been authorised.