Kahanism

Type: Far-right, Jewish extremism, Religious Zionism, Anti-Arabism, Anti-Islam, Fascist1 2

Ideology
The term Kahanism has come to denote the controversial positions espoused by Rabbi
Meir Kahane. Kahane's positions spanned a broad range of subjects.
 Aliyah: Kahane believed that every Jew should live in Israel.
 Anti-Semitism: Kahane believed that anti-Semitism should be fought immediately
and by all means necessary.
 Democracy: Kahane wrote that democracy was the best form of government for
those who lacked a divine truth and a standard of good and evil.
 Hate and Violence: Kahane believed that hate and violence were terrible, but
terribly necessary at the right time and place.
 Holocaust: Kahane felt that the history of the Holocaust should be taught to youth
with all of the lessons that it implied, including the need to fight spiritual
assimilation, the need to physically defend the Jewish people and the importance
of leaving what he termed "the Exile".
 Israel: Kahane proposed that the State of Israel should enforce Jewish law, as
codified by Maimonides6, under which non-Jews who wish to dwell in Israel
1
See:"Israel's fascist sideshow takes center stage".
2
See: "Banning Kahane Google App Won't Work".
3
"God's Law: an Interview with Rabbi Meir Kahane". Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved
2012-12-18.: "Any non-Jew, including the Arabs, can have the status of a foreign resident in Israel if he accepts the
law of the Halacha. I don’t differentiate between Arabs and non-Arabs. The only difference I make is between Jews
and non-Jews. If a non-Jew wants to live here, he must agree to be a foreign resident, be he Arab or not. He does not
have and cannot have national rights in Israel. He can have civil rights, social rights, but he cannot be a citizen; he
won’t have the right to vote. Again, whether he’s Arab or not."
4
U.S. Dept. of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2004. April 2005: https://2009-
2017.state.gov/documents/organization/45313.pdf
5
https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/45313.pdf
6
Maimonides. Mishne Torah, Laws of Kings, Ch. 6.
 would have three options: remain as "resident strangers" with all rights but
national ones7, which would require non-Jews to accept resident-stranger status
with all rights but political ones. Those who are unwilling to accept such a status
will be required to leave the country with full compensation and, those who refuse
to do even that, will be forcefully removed.
 Judaism: Kahane stressed that Jewish is beautiful. He felt that the Reform and
Conservative movements have been the leading causes of assimilation due to their
discontinuation of the belief in mass Revelation as the cornerstone of Jewish
theology.
 Love of Fellow Jews: Kahane emphasized the importance of loving Jews and the
willingness to sacrifice for Jewish brothers.
 Pride: Kahane felt that Jews should embrace pride in their heritage and tradition.
 Respect: Kahane stated that there is nothing more important than respect and he
added that only one who respects himself can end up respecting others.
 Torah: Kahane wrote that every Jew should have enough Torah knowledge to be a
qualified rabbi.
 Unity: Kahane felt that Jewish unity was of the utmost importance, and he
believed that everything should be done in order to avoid a Jewish civil war.
The central claim of Kahanism is the belief that the vast majority of the Arabs of Israel
are now, and they will continue to be, enemies of Jews and Israel itself, and that a Jewish
theocratic state, governed by Halakha, absent of a voting non-Jewish population that includes
Israel, Palestine, areas of modern-day Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, should be
created8.
According to Kahane, the term "Kahanism" is primarily used by those who are ignorant
of Torah Judaism in order to discredit his ideology,[citation needed] which he asserted is rooted
in Halakha[citation needed] and the same as Torah Judaism 9[verification needed][ better source
needed] "Meir Kahane did not hate the Arabs – he just loved the Jews", said his widow Libby in
her November 20, 2010 TV interview10.

7
Meir Kahane. Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews. p. 250. All Arabs who are prepared to accept the
State of Israel as the exclusive state of the Jewish people and of no one else, will be allowed to remain in the land
with the status of "resident stranger," as per Jewish laws. They will be granted personal rights but no national ones.
They will have general economic, social, cultural, and religious freedom but will not be citizens of the Jewish State
and will have nothing to say in its future in any way. Accepting this status, they are welcome to remain and are
entitled to all the respect and decency that Judaism demands we grant to all humans who are resident strangers in
our land and who bow to its laws and concepts.
8
"God's Law: an Interview with Rabbi Meir Kahane". Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved
2012-12-18.: "The southern boundary goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern Sinai, including Yamit. To
the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the Jordan river, hence part of what is now
Jordan. Eretz Yisrael also includes part of Lebanon, and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to the
Tigris river."
9
"I am committed to Judaism and real Jewish values, and every word in this book – disagreeable as it may be to
most – is Judaism."
10
pecial: Meir Kahane's widow regrets Rabin murder (Heb: ‫ אלמנתו של מאיר כהנא מסתייגת מרצח רבין‬:‫)מיוחד‬,
Channel 10 (Israel), November 20, 2010
 Criticism and legal action
Since 1985, the Israeli government has outlawed political parties espousing Kahane's
ideology as being "racist", and it forbids their participation in the Israeli government. The Kach
party was banned from running for the Knesset in 1988, while the existence of the two Kahanist
movements formed following Kahane's assassination in 199011 were proclaimed illegal terrorist
organizations in 1994 and the groups were subsequently officially disbanded. Activities by
followers with militant Kahanist beliefs continue to the present today, however, as seen below.
In 2001, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights described the
official Kahanist website, which was kahane.org at the time, as a hate site espousing prejudiced
views in which "Arabs generally and Palestinians in particular are vilified12.

Kahanist groups
This list is incomplete
 Kach and Kahane Chai, the now defunct political parties/movements of the
Kahane followers based in Israel with supporters in the United States. Kach has
been designated a terrorist organisation by Israel 13, Canada14, the European
Union15, Switzerland, Chile, Argentina and the United States.
 Jewish Defense League, American militant-activist group founded by Meir
Kahane in 196816
 Terror Against Terror, an Israeli militant group founded by Kach members and
followers of Kahane
 Sicarii, a group of student formed by Kach activists founded in 1989 who made
arson and graffiti attacks on leftist Jewish political figures17 18.
 Lehava, led by Benzi Gopstein19 as of 2015
 Otzma Yehudit a political party founded by followers of Kahane, including
Baruch Marzel and Michael Ben-Ari20

11
Terror Label No Hindrance To Anti-Arab Jewish Group New York Times, 19 December 2000
12
UN report on the use of the Internet for incitement to racial hatred
13
"Terrorist Organization Profile: Kach". National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to
Terrorism. University of Maryland. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
14
Canada Public Safety website Archived 2009-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
15
"COUNCIL COMMON POSITION 2009/67/CFSP". Official Journal of the European Union. European Union. 26
January 2009. p. L 23/41.
16
Extremism in the Name of Religion Archived 2009-05-29 at the Wayback Machine Anti-Defamation League
1995; https://www.adl.org/extremism/kahane1.pdf;
https://web.archive.org/web/20090529224701/http://www.adl.org/extremism/kahane1.pdf
17
Roseberg, Carol (April 28, 1989). "Underground group targets Jewish leftists". The Globe and Mail. p. A8.
18
Pedahzur, Ami; Perliger, Arie (2009). Jewish Terrorism in Israel. Columbia University Press. p. 93. ISBN
9780231154475.
19
Dan Williams, "Racist Jewish Group Offers Dilemma to Israel as Anti-Arab Violence Rises" (28 Dec 2014)
Forward http://forward.com/articles/211725/racist-jewish-group-offers-dilemma-to-israel-as-an/,
20
Lahav Harkov (21 February 2019). "Netanyahu paves path for Kahanists to enter Knesset". The Jerusalem Post.
Retrieved 21 February 2019.
 Notable kahanist terrorists
 Baruch Goldstein
Main article: Cave of the Patriarchs massacre
The deadliest Jewish terrorist attack occurred when Dr. Baruch Goldstein, supporter of
Kach, shot and killed 29 Muslim worshipers, and wounded another 150, at the Cave of the
Patriarchs massacre in Hebron, in 1994. This was described as a case of Jewish religious
terrorism by Mark Juergensmeyer21. Goldstein was a medical doctor who grew up in Brooklyn
and he was educated at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. He resettled in the
Kiryat Arba settlement in the West Bank, and he was politically active for years – he saw Rabbi
Meir Kahane as a hero, and he was Kahane's campaign manager when he ran for the Israeli
parliament through Kahane's Kach party. When Goldstein was threatened with a court-martial
for refusing to treat non-Jewish soldiers in the Israeli Defence Force, he declared: "I am not
willing to treat any non-Jew. I recognize as legitimate only two religious authorities:
Maimonides and Kahane."22
Goldstein was denounced "with shocked horror" by Orthodox Jews 23, and most Israelis
denounced Goldstein as insane24. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin condemned the attack,
describing Goldstein as a "degenerate murderer", "a shame on Zionism and an embarrassment to
Judaism"25 26 27. At the same time, Goldstein's actions were praised by some extremist settlers;
Yochay Ron said that he "felt good" when he heard the news, and he also stated that Jews were
"at war with the Arabs" and "all Arabs who live here are a danger to us... they threaten the very
existence of the Jewish community on the West Bank." Goldstein and other religious settlers at
Beit Hadassah (both Kahanist and Gush Emunim) believe that the biblical lands on the West
Bank are sacred, that Jews are required by God to occupy them, and that the presence of
Muslims desecrates the Holy Land. After this attack, members of the Kach Party praised
Goldstein's actions, and in the ensuing political turmoil, the Knesset banned Kach in Israel. The
Shamgar Commission in Israel concluded that Baruch Goldstein acted alone.
 Yoel Lerner
Main article: Yoel Lerner

21
Mark Juergensmeyer (September 2003). Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence.
University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24011-7.
22
Arych Kizel in Yediot Aharonot, 1 March 1994.
23
The ethics of war in Asian civilizations: a comparative perspective By Torkel Brekke, Routledge, 2006, p.44
24
Wilson, Rodney (2007). "Review Article: Islam and Terrorism". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 34 (2):
203–213. doi:10.1080/13530190701427933.
25
West Bank Massacre: The Overview; Rabin Urges the Palestinians To Put Aside Anger and Talk. Haberman,
Clyde. The New York Times. March 1, 1994.
26
Alan Cowell (March 2, 1994). "WEST BANK MASSACRE; In 'Tragic Error,' Soldiers Kill a Settler". New York
Times.
27
Youssef M. Ibrahim (March 6, 1994). "The World; Palestinians See a People's Hatred in a Killer's Deed". New
York Times.
 In October 1982 Yoel Lerner, a member of Meir Kahane's Kach, attempted to blow up
the Dome of the Rock in order to rebuild the Temple Mount site. He was sentenced to two and a
half years in prison. Mark Juergensmeyer identified him as a Jewish religious terrorist, writing
that he "yearned for a Jewish society in Israel. He hoped for the restoration of the ancient temple
in Jerusalem, the exclusive right of Jews to settle on the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the
creation of a state based on biblical law." Lerner had previously served a three-year sentence for
heading a group that plotted to overthrow the government and establish a state based upon
religious law.
 Eden Natan-Zada
On August 4, 2005, Eden Natan-Zada, an AWOL Israel Defense Forces soldier, killed
four Israeli Arab citizens and wounded several others when he opened fire on a bus in the
northern Israeli town of Shfaram. Natan-Zada had recently moved to the settlement of Tapuach,
site of a Kahanist yeshiva28. Zada was handcuffed by the Israeli police who arrived to the scene
but then lynched by the mob.
 Alleged Kahanist violence
Roadside shootings, stabbings and grenade attacks against Palestinians have been carried
out in Jerusalem and the West Bank by individuals or groups suspected of having ties to the
former Kach group. Aliases such as "The Committee for the Safety of the Roads" 29, "The Sword
of David" and "The Repression of Traitors" have been used. The US government claims that
these are all aliases of "Kach"30. In 2002, a Kahanist group known as "Revenge of the Toddlers"
claimed responsibility for a bombing attack at Tzur Baher, an East Jerusalem secondary school
for Arab boys, that wounded seven. The group also claimed responsibility for the 2003 bombing
of a Palestinian school in Jaba that injured 20 and it was also thought to be linked to the 2002 Zil
Elementary school bombing31 32.
In the United States, Kahanist groups and organizations are largely inactive, and the bulk
of their supporters have emigrated to Israel over the years. Kahane Net, the Jewish Defense
League and B'nai Elim (formed by former JDL activists) are occasionally associated with
Kahanism.

Non-Jewish support
James David Manning, chief pastor of ATLAH World Missionary Church, has endorsed
aspects of Kahane's ideology33.

28
"Jewish Settler Kills Four Israeli Arabs In Attack on Bus". 2005-08-05. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
29
"MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base". 2007-08-27. Archived from the original on 2007-08-27. Retrieved 2018-10-
17.
30
"Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations". 2011-08-15. Archived from the original on 2011-
08-15. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
31
The Israeli-Palestinian war: escalating to nowhere By Anthony H. Cordesman, Jennifer Moravitz 2005 pg. 159
32
Israelis Kill Five Palestinians in Gaza Strip New York Times April 10, 2003
33
Yonah, Tamar (December 21, 2009). "Audio: Reverend Manning Talks About American Black-Jewish Relations".
Arutz Sheva. Retrieved December 13, 2010.