Far-right MK Sukkot visits Arab city, hangs Israeli flag; schools strike

Far-right Israeli lawmaker Zvi Sukkot's visit to the northern Arab city of Umm al-Fahm on Sunday ignited protests and a school strike. Sukkot, from the Religious Zionism party, hung an Israeli flag outside a school, which was met with a shutdown of the city's education system by the parents' committee. They decried the visit as a political stunt aimed at garnering votes in the upcoming election season.

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If you bring declared terror organizations or people who incite terror here, not one shekel from the state’s coffers will go to the places where you incite terror.

Sukkot, who chairs the Knesset Education Committee, arrived at the school unaccompanied by his colleagues. Standing outside the locked and empty school, he accused the local education system of fostering nationalist violence. "If you bring declared terror organizations or people who incite terror here, not one shekel from the state’s coffers will go to the places where you incite terror," he declared.

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The question is why did he choose to come to Umm al-Fahm in such a way now, so close to the elections?

The visit's timing, so close to the elections, was questioned by Ahmad Yousef Mahajneh, head of the city's parents' committee. Later, Sukkot arrived at another school, heavily guarded by police, where residents and left-wing Jewish activists protested. Sukkot held up an undated photo of Islamist preacher Raed Salah, who is a resident of Umm al-Fahm and was previously jailed for incitement, accusing the school of hosting him. Salah was imprisoned for sermons lauding a terror attack.

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They did not put one up, so we’ve come to help them.

Protesters turned Sukkot's accusations back at him, with one referencing his 2010 arrest on suspicion of arson at a West Bank mosque. Yaya Fink, a liberal Jewish activist, called Sukkot a

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It’s shameful that the chairman of the Education Committee behaves this way.