Zvi Sukkot is a lawmaker and member of the far-right Religious Zionism party. He resides in the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank and is a central figure in colonial activism, participating in the Hilltop Youth group, which is linked to the violent establishment of illegal settlements and attacks on Palestinians. Additionally, he co-founded the unauthorized outpost of Evyatar near Nablus and has been the chair of the Knesset’s Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria since 2023, a position promoted by the Israeli government to justify the occupation of the West Bank.

Zvi Sukkot has focused on Arab and Palestinian schools mainly because he argues that some of these schools promote what he calls “incitement” against Israel, particularly through alleged use of Palestinian Authority curricula or links to figures and organizations he considers supportive of terrorism. He has used his position as chair of the Knesset Education Committee to conduct visits and inspections of Arab-sector schools and has called for state funding to be withheld from schools that, in his view, contain such material.

Critics, including Arab community representatives, describe his campaign as politically motivated and provocative, arguing that it targets Palestinian identity and Arab schools rather than addressing educational issues. They have accused him of using school inspections to create confrontation and spread distrust.

The issue is part of a wider Israeli debate over the content of Palestinian Authority textbooks, Palestinian national identity in schools, Israeli state oversight of Arab education, and the balance between preventing incitement and protecting cultural and political expression.

Timeline of the incidents

On February 15, 2026, the Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya Secondary School for Girls in Nablus, located in northern West Bank, experienced a violent incursion by a group of Israeli settlers led by lawmaker Zvi Sukkot (pictured with a gun on his back). The attack occurred while students were in their classrooms, posing a direct threat to the physical safety of both the students and their teachers, in addition to significantly disrupting the educational process due to the panic caused by the violent settlers. In response to this serious incident, the Palestinian Ministry of Education issued a categorical rejection, stating that these systematic assaults constitute «a flagrant violation of the inviolability of educational institutions and contravene international law that protects the human right to education in safe conditions.»

On May 11, 2026, Zvi Sukkot disrupted an event held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem commemorating the Nakba and targeted Palestinian students with racist remarks. Sukkot told students that by the university allowing this event to take place, it “will lead to the university’s funding being withheld.”

On June 4, 2026, Israeli lawmaker Zvi Sukkot visited the Arab Bedouin town of Tuba-Zangariyye to discuss crime and violence in schools. Local leaders opposed the visit, calling it a racist provocation, and locked a school gate to prevent his entry. After being denied access, Sukkot was filmed using an electric saw outside the school. The incident sparked controversy, with local officials saying it frightened some children. Sukkot defended his actions and later called for cuts to state funding for the town’s schools.

On June 11, 2026, MK Zvi Sukkot attempted to enter Nour al-Huda School in the Ras Shehadeh neighborhood in Shu’fat Refugee Camp, accusing it of links to Hamas and calling for action against it. His committee attempted to enter the school and threatened measures against it, claiming it had links to organizations associated with Hamas and questioning its funding. The school’s director rejected these accusations as false. This is a part of the "Capital Shield" Israeli operation aiming an isolation and ethnic cleansing of some Refugge Camp inluding in the East Jerusalem teritorries. See event "Capital Shield" campaign in Shuhafat R.C.

On June 18, 2026, Zvi Sukkot, under heavy police protection, MK Zvi Sukkot entered the vicinity of schools in the town under heavy protection from Israeli police and military forces. This is a part of the "Capital Shield" Israeli operation aiming an isolation and ethnic cleansing of some Refugge Camp inluding in the East Jerusalem teritorries. See event Operation "Capital Shield" in Kafr Aqab and Qalanqia (Eviction, demolition and ethnic cleansing)

On June 28, 2026, Zvi Sukkot’s visit to schools in Umm al-Fahm on June 28, 2026, and hung an Israeli flag outside one of the city's schools. The parents' committee in Umm al-Fahm announced a strike the day before ahead of Sukkot's planned tour of the city. The schools were closed for the entire day, and the parents' committee called the measure a "racist provocation" designed to strengthen its right-wing base for the elections. Sukkot states he wanted to deliver a message to the city's residents, saying "I am not your enemy. I am the chairman of the Knesset Education Committee and I came to inspect the education system. There is no Israeli flag on the main building as required by law, only three schools allow the Israel Police to enter citizenship classes and admit people like Raed Salah. If they continue, then we will make sure that not a single shekel of state money enters the schools here."