Kach and Kahane Chai

Kach
כ"ך
Leader Meir Kahane
Founded 1971
Dissolved 1994 (banned)
Headquarters Jerusalem, Israel
Paramilitary wing Jewish Defense League
Ideology Ultranationalism[1]
Zionism
Kahanism
Political position Far-right
Religion Judaism
(mainly Hardal)
International affiliation None
Colors      Gold
Election symbol
כך
Party flag

Kach (Hebrew: כ"ך‎) was a ultranationalist political party in Israel existing from 1971 to 1994.[1] Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in the early 1970s, and following his Jewish nationalist ideology (subsequently dubbed Kahanism), the party entered the Knesset following the 1984 elections after several electoral failures.[2] However, it was barred from participating in the next election in 1988 under the revised Knesset Elections Law banning parties that incited racism. After Kahane's assassination in 1990, the party split, with Kahane Chai (Hebrew: כהנא חי‎, lit. Kahane Lives) breaking away from the main Kach faction. The party was also barred from standing in the 1992 election, and both organisations were banned outright in 1994. Today both groups are considered terrorist organisations by Israel,[3] Canada,[4] the European Union[5] and the United States.[6] The groups are believed to have an overlapping core membership of fewer than 100 people.[7][8]

Background

Early history

Kahane immigrated to Israel from the United States in September 1971, at first declaring that he would only involve himself in Jewish education.[9] However, he soon became involved in controversy, initiating protests advocating the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian territories. In 1972 Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed around Hebron, calling for the mayor to stand trial for the 1929 Hebron massacre.[10]

In 1971 Kahane founded a new party,[11] which ran in the 1973 elections under the name "The League List".[12] The party won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the electoral threshold at the time (1%) for winning a seat. Following the elections, the party's name was changed to Kach, taken from the Irgun motto "Rak Kach" ("Only thus").[13] The party was less successful in the 1977 elections, in which it won 4,396 votes (0.25%), and in 1980 Kahane was sentenced to six months in prison for his involvement in a plan to commit an "act of provocation" on the Temple Mount.[10] The 1981 elections were another failure, with Kach receiving only 5,128 votes (0.27%).

Electoral success

Kach poster from the 1984 elections. It reads "This time [vote] Kahane: Because he is one of us! Give him the power to finally take care of them [Arabs]!"

Events in the next couple of years increased the party's popularity. In 1982, Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, as part of the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty which involved evacuating Israeli settlers living in the peninsula. There was fierce resistance, particularly in Yamit, the largest settlement, where several extremists had barricaded themselves inside a synagogue and were threatening to commit suicide. Menachem Begin's government asked Kahane to act as an intermediary and convince them to give in.

Prior to the 1984 elections, the party was barred by the Central Elections Committee for racism. It successfully appealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed the CEC's decision, ruling that the Knesset Elections Law (one of the Basic Laws of Israel) did not allow a party to be barred on the grounds of racism, but did suggest that the law be amended.[10] In the elections the party won 25,907 votes (1.2%), passing the electoral threshold for the first time, and winning one seat, which was duly taken by Kahane.

Kahane's legislative proposals focused on revoking the Israeli citizenship for non-Jews and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah.

As his political career progressed, Kahane became increasingly isolated in the Knesset. His speeches, boycotted by Knesset members, were made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected by fellow Knesset members. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "Hellenists" in Hebrew (a reference from Jewish religious texts describing ancient Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great). In 1987, Rabbi Kahane opened a yeshiva (HaRaayon HaYehudi) with funding from U.S. supporters, for the teaching of "the Authentic Jewish Idea".

Despite the boycott, Kahane's popularity grew. Polls showed that Kach would have likely received three to four seats in the coming November 1988 elections,[14][15] with some earlier polls forecasting as many as twelve seats,[16][17] possibly making Kach the third largest party.

In response to Kach's electoral success and following up on the recommendation of the Supreme Court, the Knesset passed an amendment to the Elections Law, which stated:[10]

A candidates list shall not participate in elections to the Knesset if its objects or actions, expressly or by implication, include one of the following:

  1. negation of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people;
  2. negation of the democratic character of the State
  3. incitement to racism

As a result, Kach was disqualified from running in the 1988 elections by the Central Elections Committee. The party once again appealed the decision, with Kahane claiming that security needs were justification for discrimination against Arabs. This time the appeal was unsuccessful, with the court stating that the aims and action of Kach were "manifestly racist."[10]

Kahane's death and party split

On 5 November 1990, Kahane was assassinated[18] after making a speech in New York. The prime suspect, El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born American citizen, was subsequently acquitted of murder, but convicted on gun possession charges.[19] The party subsequently split in two, with Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane (Kahane's son) leading a breakaway faction, Kahane Chai, based in Kfar Tapuach (an Israeli settlement in the West Bank), and Kach initially under the leadership of Rabbi Avraham Toledano (later replaced by Baruch Marzel) in Kiryat Arba. Both parties were banned from participating in the 1992 elections on the basis that they were followers of the original Kach.

Party ban on Kach and Kahane Chai

Following both parties noting their support of a 1992 grenade attack on the butchers' market of Jerusalem's Old City, government minister Amnon Rubinstein asked the Attorney General to launch criminal proceedings against both Kahane and Marzel on the charges of incitement to terrorism.[10]

In 1994, both groups were banned outright by the Israeli cabinet under 1948 anti-terrorism laws,[20] following statements in support of Baruch Goldstein's massacre of 29 Palestinians at the Cave of the Patriarchs (Goldstein himself was a Kach supporter).[21] Many of their leaders spent time in Israeli jail under administrative detention, particularly Noam Federman, who spent more than 6 months in lockup without being indicted. Yigal Amir, who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 who was in contact with "EYAL" (the Jewish Fighting Organization), a group established and headed by Avishai Raviv (a paid government informant) and portrayed as linked to Kach and Kahane Chai.[22]

After being convicted for sedition for distributing pamphlets advocating violence against Arabs, Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane and his wife were both killed in a Palestinian ambush in December 2000.[23]

Aftermath

Kach logo spraypainted on a cement block reading "Kahane Chai"
Kahanist graffiti in Hebron on a Palestinian home. The words to the top right say "Kahane Chai". The fist inside the Star of David is the party logo. Below is the acronym for "Kahane Chai" which is also the Hebrew word for strength.

Following the banning of Kach and Kahane Chai, the movements officially disbanded. The leadership of the former Kahane Chai formed an advocacy group known as The Kahane Movement. The group's activities consist mainly of maintaining the Kahane website, kahane.org. However, the Kahane Movement is listed on the United States' list of terrorist organizations as an alias for "Kach", though the group denies this.

The New Kach Movement existed during between 2001 and 2003 and maintained websites posting Kahanist political commentary and held meetings with informal members. Headed by Israeli-born student Efraim Hershkovits, it had chapters worldwide as well as a youth movement, Noar Meir. Upon returning to live in Israel in 2003, Hershkovits disbanded the movement to avoid harassment by the Israeli government, advising its former members to support the Kahane Movement. After the organization had disbanded, its name was also added to the United States' list of terrorist organizations as an alias for "Kach". Hershkovits was arrested on 7 August 2005 and placed in administrative detention for three months by Israeli authorities.

Today, the United States continues to designate the group a terrorist organization,[6] and says that it has engaged in terrorist activity by

The State Department also says that the group is suspected of involvement in a number of low-level attacks since the start of the Second Intifada in 2000.[7]

In the 2003 elections, former Kach leader Baruch Marzel ran as number two on the Herut – The National Movement party list. The party narrowly missed obtaining a seat. In 2004, he founded the Jewish National Front, which gained 24,824 votes (0.7%) in the 2006 elections, less than half needed to win a seat. Michael Ben-Ari, elected to the Knesset in 2009 on the Ihud Haleumi list, where he represents Eretz Yisrael Shelanu, is a self-declared follower of Rabbi Kahane who was involved with Kach for many years. Jewish National Front merged into Eretz Yisrael Shelanu prior to the election.

Former Kahane Chai chief executive[25] Mike Guzofsky continues to solicit funds in the U.S., with the support of American Kahanists.

A 2009 Haaretz story accused Avigdor Lieberman of past membership in Kach, an accusation Lieberman denies.[26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Sharon Weinblum (2015). Security and Defensive Democracy in Israel: A Critical Approach to Political Discourse. Routledge. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-317-58450-6.
  2. ↑ Knesset Records of Kach Activity
  3. ↑ "Cabinet Communique - March 13, 1994". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Canada Public Safety website Archived 9 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "COUNCIL COMMON POSITION 2009/67/CFSP". Official Journal of the European Union. European Union. 26 January 2009. p. L 23/41.
  6. 1 2 "Country Reports on Terrorism 2004" (PDF). U.S. Department of State. April 2005. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Kach, Kahane Chai (Israel, extremists)". Council for Foreign Relations. 20 March 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Terrorist Organization Profile: Kach". National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. University of Maryland. 23 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Ehud Sprinzak (1999). Brother against Brother. The Free Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0684853444.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Kach Movement - Background". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 3 March 1994. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "Israel Political Parties: Kach". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  12. ↑ Complete Israeli Election Results, 1949-2009 UC Santa Barbara Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ Rafael Medoff; Chaim I. Waxman (2013). Historical Dictionary of Zionism. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 978-1579582869.
  14. ↑ Donald Neff (July–August 1999). "Jewish Defense League Unleashes Campaign of Violence in America". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. pp. 81–82. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  15. ↑ Samuel G. Freedman (2000). Jew vs. Jew: the struggle for the soul of American Jewry. Simon and Schuster. p. 196. ISBN 9780684859446. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  16. ↑ "12 Years Since the Assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane". Arutz Sheva. 23 October 2002. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  17. ↑ Bradley Burston (12 December 2002). "Slain Rabbi Meir Kahane Runs From the Grave". Haaretz. Retrieved 23 June 2015.(subscription required)
  18. ↑ Murphy, Dean E. (19 December 2000). "Terror Label No Hindrance To Anti-Arab Jewish Group". The New York Times. p. B6. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  19. ↑ Raab, Selwyn (23 December 1991). "Jury Selection Seen As Crucial to Verdict". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  20. ↑ Key Issues: Protecting Charitable organizations U.S. Department of the Treasury Archived 14 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ↑ In the Spotlight: Kach and Kahane Chai Center for Defense Information, 1 October 2002 Archived 22 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
  22. ↑ "EYAL (Fighting Jewish Organization)". National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. University of Maryland. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  23. ↑ "The Kahanes: Like father, like son". BBC News. 31 December 2000. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  24. ↑ "U.S. Appeals Court Affirms Designation of Kahane Chai, Kach as Terrorist Groups". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. The DC Investigative Journalism Collective. January–February 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  25. ↑ "Business Information Report: Kahane Chai Inc". Dunn & Bradstreet Information Services. 15 July 1994. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  26. ↑ Lily Galili (1 January 2009). "Elections 2009 / Haaretz exclusive: Avigdor Lieberman said to be ex-member of banned radical Kach movement". Haaretz. Retrieved 23 June 2015.

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