View source for Meir Kahane

{{Short description|American and Israeli politician (1932–1990)}}
{{for|head of Ashkelon rabbinical court|Meir Kahana}}
{{Pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Meir Kahane
| native_name         = {{Nobold|מאיר כהנא}}
| native_name_lang    = he
| image               = Meir Kahane, seated (3x4 cropped).jpg
| caption             = Kahane in New York in 1984
| birthname           = Martin David Kahane
| birth_place         = [[Brooklyn]], New York, U.S.
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1932|08|01}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1990|11|05|1932|08|01}}
| death_place         = [[Manhattan]], New York, U.S.
| death_cause         = [[Assassination of Meir Kahane|Assassination by gunshot]]
| suboffice1          = [[Kach and Kahane Chai|Kach]]
| office1             = Faction represented in the [[Knesset]]
| subterm1            = 1984–1988
| education           = {{Plainlist|
* [[Brooklyn College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
* [[New York Law School]] ([[LLB]])
* [[New York University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])
}}
| party               = [[Kach (political party)|Kach]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Libby Blum|1956}}
| children            = 4, including [[Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane|Binyamin]]
| signature = Kahane sig.svg
}}

'''Meir David HaKohen Kahane''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|h|ɑː|n|ə}} {{respell|kə|HAH|nə}}; {{langx|he|רבי מאיר דוד הכהן כהנא }}; born '''Martin David Kahane''';<ref name=Britannica/> August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an [[Israel|Israeli]] [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] ordained [[rabbi]], writer and [[ultra-nationalist]] politician. He was the founder of the Israeli political party [[Kach]], whose ideology continues to influence militant and [[Israeli far-right|far-right]] political groups active today in Israel.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2019-02-21/ty-article/.premium/why-racist-rabbi-meir-kahane-is-roiling-israeli-politics-30-years-after-his-death/0000017f-f6f7-d887-a7ff-fef720220000 |title=Why Racist Rabbi Meir Kahane Is Roiling Israeli Politics 30 Years After His Death |newspaper=Haaretz |date=February 21, 2019 |access-date=October 1, 2019}}</ref> Kahane was convicted of multiple acts of [[terrorism]] in the United States and in Israel.

Born in 1932 in [[Brooklyn]], New York City, to an Orthodox Jewish family, Kahane received his education there, starting with Jewish scripture studies, and eventually gaining an M.A. in International Relations from [[New York University]]. In 1968, he founded the [[Jewish Defense League]] (JDL) in New York City, whose self-described purpose was to fight [[anti-Semitism]]. Several JDL members, including Kahane, were subsequently convicted of acts related to domestic terrorism, including leading the attack on the Soviet United Nations mission in 1975. Later that same year, Kahane was convicted of conspiring to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, bomb the Iraqi embassy in Washington, and ship arms abroad from Israel. He consequently served a one year imprisonment, albeit in a hotel. 

In 1971, Kahane moved to Israel and became a citizen, where he initiated protests calling for the expulsion of both Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians of the [[Israeli-occupied territories]], which led to his arrest dozens of times. In the same year, he founded Kach, a political party that initially failed to gain any seats in the Knesset. In 1980, Kahane was arrested for the 62nd time since his emigration, and he was jailed for six months for planning armed attacks against [[Palestinians]]. Kahane was held in prison in [[Ramla]], where he wrote the book ''They Must Go''. In the [[1984 Israeli legislative election|1984 elections]], his Kach party gained one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane, but he was later barred from running in 1988. In 1990, he was giving a speech to an audience of Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, urging [[American Jews]] to [[aliyah|emigrate to Israel]], when he was [[Assassination of Meir Kahane|assassinated]] by [[El Sayyid Nosair]], an Egyptian-American national. Kahane was buried in [[West Jerusalem]].

During his lifetime Kahane publicized his [[Kahanism]] ideology throughout the United States. In Israel, he proposed enforcing ''[[halakha]]'' (Jewish law) as codified by [[Maimonides]]<ref>{{cite book | author = Maimonides | title = Mishne Torah, Laws of Kings, Ch. 6 }}</ref> and hoped that Israel would eventually [[Halachic state|adopt it as state law]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Meir Kahane | title = Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews | quote = The pity is-the tragedy is-that most Jews do not believe that Judaism is Divine and therefore do not accept it as the foundation of the state. And so, because of that-but only because any attempt to establish a true Torah state would lead to bitter civil war among Jews-I would not be prepared to establish a state that would bar elections involving parties that do not accept Torah law as authority.| page= 265 }}</ref> While serving in the Knesset in the mid-1980s Kahane proposed numerous laws, none of which passed, to emphasize Judaism in public schools, reduce Israel's bureaucracy, forbid [[Interfaith marriage in Judaism|sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews]], separate Jewish and Arab neighborhoods, and end cultural meetings between Jewish and Arab students.<ref name="nytimes.com">Brinkley, Joel. [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/06/world/israel-bans-kahane-party-from-election.html?pagewanted=1 "Israel Bans Kahane Party From Election"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903034235/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/06/world/israel-bans-kahane-party-from-election.html?pagewanted=1 |date=September 3, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', October 6, 1988.</ref> He went so far as to demand that non-Jews in Israel either become slaves or face deportation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zogby |first=James |date=March 23, 2021 |title=Netanyahu Is Letting Israel's Fascists Enter by the Front Door |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-kahane-biden-fascist/ |access-date=March 20, 2024 |language=en-US |issn=0027-8378 |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027183701/https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-kahane-biden-fascist/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He also popularized the slogan "For Every Jew a [[.22 Long Rifle|.22]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-some-of-extremist-rabbi-onetime-mk-kahanes-ideas-entered-jewish-mainstream/ |title=How some of extremist rabbi, onetime MK Kahane's ideas entered Jewish mainstream |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=October 16, 2021 |access-date=December 20, 2022 |archive-date=December 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220222733/https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-some-of-extremist-rabbi-onetime-mk-kahanes-ideas-entered-jewish-mainstream/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He supported the restriction of Israel's democracy to its Jewish citizens, and endorsed the annexation of the [[Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli-occupied]] [[Palestinian territories]] of the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews|year=1987|publisher=Lyle Stuart|isbn=978-0818404382|author=Meir Kahane|page=[https://archive.org/details/uncomfortableque00kaha/page/270 270]|quote=The Jew is forbidden to give up any part of the Land of Israel, which has been liberated. The land belongs to the G-d of Israel, and the Jew, given it by G-d, has no right to give away any part of it. All the areas liberated in 1967 will be annexed and made part of the State of Israel. Jewish settlement in every part of the land, including cities that today are sadly ''Judenrein'', will be unlimited.|url=https://archive.org/details/uncomfortableque00kaha|url-access=registration}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Meir Kahane was born in [[Brooklyn]], New York, to an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] family.<ref name="mart">{{Cite book |url={{Google books |id=yhejdNH9nMkC |page=141 |plainurl=yes}} |title=When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry |isbn=978-0-5475-0443-8 |last1=Beckerman |first1=Gal |year=2010}}</ref> Kahane was a member of an established rabbinic family, including his father, who was head of the Flatbush Board of Rabbis.<ref name=JoB>{{cite book |url={{Google books |id=ydmtk2HGrcAC?hl |page=287 |plainurl=yes}} |editor-first1=Ilana |editor-last1=Abramovitch |editor-first2=Seán |editor-last2=Galvin |title=Jews of Brooklyn |date=November 1, 2001 |publisher=Brandeis University Press |location=Hanover, NH |isbn=9781584650034 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{rp|287}} His father, Yechezkel Shragei (Charles) Kahane (1905–1978), was the rabbi of a large synagogue in Brooklyn, author of the interpretive [[Torah]] translation ''Torah Yesharah'', and a strong supporter of the [[Revisionist Zionism|Revisionist Zionist]] movement.<ref>Yosef Lindell, [https://seforimblog.com/2023/03/when-meir-kahanes-father-translated-the-torah/ When Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Father Translated the Torah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330074041/https://seforimblog.com/2023/03/when-meir-kahanes-father-translated-the-torah/ |date=March 30, 2023 }}</ref> Kahane's grandfather was Nachman Kahane (1869–1937), a leading rabbinic scholar in [[Safed]], who was the son of Baruch David Kahane (1850–1925), the author of ''Hibat ha-Eretz'', and a disciple of [[Chaim Halberstam|Chaim Halberstam of Sanz]]. Baruch David was a direct descendant of [[Simcha Rappaport]] (1650–1718), of the [[Rappaport family|Rappaport rabbinic family]], who were allegedly able to trace their ancestry back to [[Eleazar ben Azariah]], a 1st-century sage in the [[Land of Israel]]. Baruch David immigrated to [[Ottoman Palestine]] from Poland in 1873.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenstein|first=Neil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGpmAAAAMAAJ|title=The Unbroken Chain: Biographical Sketches and the Genealogy of Illustrious Jewish Families from the 15th–20th Century|publisher=CIS Publishers|year=1990|isbn=978-0-9610578-4-8|volume=3|pages=43|language=en}}</ref> Kahane's father was born in Safed while his mother Sonia was born in [[Latvia]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.haayal.co.il/story_1541 |title=הרבה נכתב על הרב כהנא המנוח במשך השנים. דמותו ותורתו השנויה במחלוקת עוררו תגובות אוהדות מחד, ונזעמות מאידך. חלק ראשון מתוך שניים. |access-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822025008/http://www.haayal.co.il/story_1541 |url-status=live }}</ref> An uncle of Kahane's was killed in Safed during the [[1929 Palestine riots]].<ref>[[Shaul Magid]], [https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/kahane-won  'Kahane Won:How the radical rabbi’s ideas and disciples took over Israeli politics, and why it’s dangerous,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521212336/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/kahane-won |date=May 21, 2022 }} [[Tablet (magazine)|Tablet]] March 15, 2019</ref>

As a teenager, Kahane became an ardent admirer of [[Eri Jabotinsky]] and [[Peter Bergson]], who were frequent guests in his parents' home. He joined the [[Betar]] (Brit Trumpeldor) youth wing of Revisionist Zionism. He was active in protests against [[Ernest Bevin]], the [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|British Foreign Secretary]] who maintained restrictions on the emigration of Jews, even [[Holocaust survivors]], to Palestine after the end of the [[Second World War]]. In 1949, Kahane was arrested for throwing eggs and tomatoes at Bevin, who was disembarking at Pier 90 on a visit to New York. A photo of his arrest appeared in the ''[[New York Daily News]]''.<ref>[[Robert I. Friedman|Friedman, Robert I]]. ''The false prophet – Rabbi Meir Kahane – from FBI informant to Knesset member'', New York, 1990, p.9. {{ISBN|1-55652-078-6}}</ref> In 1954, he became the Mazkir (Secretary) of Greater New York City's 16 [[Bnei Akiva]] chapters.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Kahane's formal education included [[Yeshiva of Flatbush]] for elementary school and  [[Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy|Brooklyn Talmudical Academy]] for high school.<ref>also see [[talk:Meir Kahane#High school stunt]]</ref> Kahane received his [[Semicha|rabbinical ordination]] from the [[Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)|Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn]], where he was especially admired by the head Rabbi [[Avraham Kalmanowitz|Abraham Kalmanowitz]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Libby Kahane |title=Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought (Vol. 1) |quote=Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz had a great love for Meir... [He once told Meir:] 'Because you sanctified G-d's name... your name and fame shall spread far and wide.' |page=50}}</ref> He was fully conversant in the [[Tanakh]] (Jewish Bible), the [[Talmud]], the [[Midrash]] and [[Halakha|Jewish law]]. Subsequently, Kahane earned a B.A. in [[political science]] from [[Brooklyn College]] in 1954, a Bachelor of Law – LL.B. from [[New York Law School]], and an M.A. in International Relations from [[New York University]].<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Meir-Kahane |title=Meir Kahane: Israeli political extremist and rabbi |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=November 1, 2019 |access-date=December 25, 2019 |archive-date=October 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027001806/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Meir-Kahane |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Libby Kahane, "Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought" vol. 2, chap 6, note 3 p. 577.</ref>

In 1956, Kahane married Libby Blum, with whom he had four children:<ref name=carrying>{{cite news|last=Nathan-Kazis|first=Josh|title=Carrying a torch|journal=Haaretz|date=January 6, 2009|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2009-01-06/ty-article/carrying-a-torch/0000017f-f651-d318-afff-f7739b920000|access-date=July 29, 2022|archive-date=July 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220729124133/https://www.haaretz.com/2009-01-06/ty-article/carrying-a-torch/0000017f-f651-d318-afff-f7739b920000|url-status=live}}</ref> Tzipporah,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/231514|title=Tzipi Kaplan, daughter of Rabbi Kahane, passes away|publisher=Arutz Sheva|first=Eliran|last=Aharon|date=June 25, 2017|access-date=October 14, 2021|archive-date=September 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927144343/https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/231514|url-status=live}}</ref> Tova, Baruch, and [[Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane|Binyamin]].<ref name=carrying /><ref>{{cite web|last=Miskin|first=Maayana|title=Kahane Family Sues as Radio Ads Pulled over Peace Now Pressure|date=November 30, 2010|publisher=[[Arutz Sheva]]|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140933#.U6g_AtJdUuc|access-date=June 23, 2014|archive-date=December 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222163336/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140933#.U6g_AtJdUuc|url-status=live}}</ref> Binyamin became an Orthodox Jewish scholar, rabbi, and far-right political leader aligned with Kahane's political movement, and was later killed in 2000.

In 1966, Kahane, under the alias of Michael King and while already married, had an affair and became engaged to marry the 21-year-old model Gloria Jean D'Argenio (who used the stage name Estelle Donna Evans).<ref name="weinman">{{cite web |title=The Woman on the Bridge |url=https://www.thecut.com/2020/04/the-woman-on-the-bridge.html |first=Sarah |last=Weinman |work=[[New York (magazine)#The Cut|The Cut]] |date=April 12, 2020 |access-date=April 15, 2020 |archive-date=April 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415135136/https://www.thecut.com/2020/04/the-woman-on-the-bridge.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Kahane sent a letter to D'Argenio in which he unilaterally ended their relationship. D'Argenio was never aware of Kahane's real identity and at the time she received the letter, she had been expecting him to marry her in two days and had recently learned she was pregnant by him.<ref name="weinman"/> Upon receiving the letter, D'Argenio jumped off the [[Queensboro Bridge]] and died of her injuries the next day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/06/weekinreview/remembering-kahane-and-the-woman-on-the-bridge.html?src=pm|url-access=subscription|title=Remembering Kahane, and the Woman on the Bridge|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 6, 1994|first=Michael T.|last=Kaufman|access-date=October 14, 2021|archive-date=October 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005115606/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/06/weekinreview/remembering-kahane-and-the-woman-on-the-bridge.html?src=pm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hewitt |first1=Bill |last2=Podolsky |first2=J.D. |last3=Avrech |first3=Mira |title=After a Career of Preaching Hatred for Arabs, Rabbi Meir Kahane Is Cut Down by An Assassin's Bullet |url=https://people.com/archive/after-a-career-of-preaching-hatred-for-arabs-rabbi-meir-kahane-is-cut-down-by-an-assassins-bullet-vol-34-no-20/ |access-date=January 5, 2020 |work=People |date=November 19, 1990 |language=en |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212002136/https://people.com/archive/after-a-career-of-preaching-hatred-for-arabs-rabbi-meir-kahane-is-cut-down-by-an-assassins-bullet-vol-34-no-20/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2008, Kahane's wife dismissed the incident as lacking proof.<ref name="jpost">{{cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/Jerusalem-Report/Never-Again-Indeed-Extract|last=Gross|first=Netty C.|title=Never Again, Indeed (Extract)|work=The Jerusalem Report|date=September 1, 2008|access-date=January 5, 2020|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308210824/https://www.jpost.com/Jerusalem-Report/Never-Again-Indeed-Extract|url-status=live}}</ref>

After D'Argenio's death, Kahane started the Estelle Donna Evans Foundation in her name.<ref name="weinman"/><ref name="jpost"/> Kahane claimed D'Argenio had been his former secretary in his failed consulting operation, had died of cancer, and that her "well-to-do" family had endowed the foundation.<ref name="weinman"/> In reality, the money was used to fund the JDL, including supplies for bombings and Kahane's lavish travel.<ref name="weinman"/>

==Early career==
===Pulpit rabbi===
[[File:Meir Kahane.jpg|right|thumb|Kahane in [[Canarsie]] in 1975]]
In 1958, Kahane became the rabbi of the [[Howard Beach, Queens|Howard Beach]] Jewish Center in Queens, New York City. Although the synagogue was originally [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]], rather than strictly [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]], the board of directors agreed to Kahane's conditions, which included resigning from the Conservative movement's [[United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism|United Synagogue of America]], installing a [[Mechitza|partition separating men and women]] during prayer, instituting traditional prayers, and maintaining a [[kosher]] kitchen.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought Vol. One: 1932–1975|last = Kahane|first = Libby|publisher = Urim Publications|year = 2008|isbn = 978-965-524-008-5|location = Israel|page = 42|quote = Meir accepted the rabbinical position at the Howard Beach Jewish Center (HBJC) with certain conditions. He demanded Orthodox practices, even though none of the synagogue's members were observant: a kosher kitchen, traditional prayers, and separate seating for men and women with a mechitza (partition) between them. Another condition was that the synagogue resign from the Conservative movement's United Synagogues of America. Remarkably, the board of directors agreed to all these terms, perhaps because the salary which Meir accepted was far lower than that of a Reform or Conservative rabbi.|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pK4RAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> At the Jewish Center, Kahane influenced many of the synagogue's youngsters to adopt a more observant lifestyle, which often troubled parents.<ref>{{cite book|title= From Washington Avenue to Washington Street|year=2011|publisher=Gefen Books|isbn=978-965-229-5651|author= Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff |quote= Meir's primary success in this position was to be his undoing. Many of the youngsters were enchanted by the new rabbi and his mesmerizing personality. Much to their parents’ chagrin, some of these children began to observe the dietary and [[Sabbath]] laws.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVaEZwEACAAJ}}</ref><ref>"Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought", pp. 48, 49.</ref> He trained [[Arlo Guthrie]] for his [[bar mitzvah]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Tugend |first=Tom |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/arts/article/a_jewish_visit_to_guthries_land_20041203/ |title=A Jewish Visit to Guthrie's Land |website=JewishJournal.com |publisher=Tribe Media Corp |date=December 2, 2004 |access-date=January 1, 2012 |archive-date=May 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529184625/http://www.jewishjournal.com/arts/article/a_jewish_visit_to_guthries_land_20041203/ |url-status=live }}</ref> When his contract was not renewed, he soon published an article entitled "End of the Miracle of Howard Beach". That was Kahane's first article in ''[[The Jewish Press]]'', an American Orthodox Jewish weekly for which he would continue to write for the rest of his life.<ref>Rakeffet-Rothkoff, Aaron. [http://www.ou.org/index.php/jewish_action/article/50163/ Review of ''Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought''] He also served as an assistant rabbi in the Young Israel of Laurelton, and as rabbi of the Rochdale Village Jewish Center.{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913042344/http://www.ou.org/index.php/jewish_action/article/50163/ |date=September 13, 2009 }}, ''Jewish Action''.</ref> Kahane also used the pen name David Sinai, and the pseudonyms Michael King, David Borac, and Martin Keene.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.ou.org/index.php/jewish_action/article/50163/ |contribution=Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought |title=Jewish Action |year=2008 |publisher=OU |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913042344/http://www.ou.org/index.php/jewish_action/article/50163/ |archive-date=September 13, 2009 }}</ref>

===Infiltrating the John Birch Society===
In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Kahane's life of secrecy and his strong [[anticommunism]] landed him a position as a consultant with the [[FBI]]. According to his wife, Libby, his assignment was to infiltrate the anticommunist [[John Birch Society]] and report his findings to the FBI.<ref name=carrying />

===Collaboration with Joseph Churba===
[[File:Never Again (Meir Kahane).jpg|thumb|''Never Again! A Program for Survival'' (1972)]]
At some time in the late 1950s, Kahane assumed the persona of a [[Gentile]], along with the pseudonym Michael King.<ref>{{Google books |id=7vQud4yM3R0C |title=When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry }}</ref> Kahane began openly expressing his anticommunism. He and [[Joseph Churba]] created the July Fourth Movement, which was formed to counteract widespread opposition towards U.S. involvement in the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Libby Kahane | title = Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought (Vol. 1) | page= 79 }}</ref> Subsequently, they coauthored the book ''The Jewish Stake in Vietnam'', an attempt to convince American Jews of the "evil of Communism".<ref>{{Google books |id=Mf5AAAAAIAAJ |title=The Jewish stake in Vietnam}}</ref> The introduction states that, "All Americans have a stake in this grim war against Communism... It is vital that Jews realize the threat to their very survival [should Communism succeed]." Churba had a major falling out with Kahane over the use of paramilitary activities{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}, and they parted ways permanently. Churba went on to pursue his own career, joining the [[U.S. Air Force]], writing many books on the Middle East, and eventually becoming one of [[Ronald Reagan]]'s consultants. Kahane chose to fight for Jewish rights, and was willing to use extreme measures. He even attempted to acquire and grow [[biological weapons]] to use on a Soviet military installation.<ref name="ussr-attack">{{cite news|url=http://intelwire.egoplex.com/2007_10_06_blogarchive.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629032555/http://intelwire.egoplex.com/2007_10_06_blogarchive.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 29, 2013|title=Informant: Meir Kahane Planned Biological Terror Attack On USSR|date=October 6, 2007|access-date=November 16, 2013}}</ref> He began using the phrase "[[Never again]]"<ref>{{cite news|title=But Meir Kahane's Message Refuses to Die; Source of 'Never Again'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/19/opinion/l-but-meir-kahane-s-message-refuses-to-die-source-of-never-again-080490.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=November 16, 2013|date=November 19, 1990|archive-date=December 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219235605/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/19/opinion/l-but-meir-kahane-s-message-refuses-to-die-source-of-never-again-080490.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and conceived the Jewish Star and fist insignia, a symbol resembling that of the [[Black Panther Party]]. However, Kahane himself opposed the Black Panthers, claiming they had supported anti-Jewish riots in [[Massachusetts]] and had left-wing views.

==Jewish Defense League==
Kahane founded the [[Jewish Defense League]] (JDL) in New York City in 1968. Its self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of [[anti-Semitism]].<ref name="backgrounder">{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/extremism/jdl_chron.asp |title=Anti-Defamation League on JDL |publisher=Adl.org |access-date=November 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414090038/http://www.adl.org/extremism/jdl_chron.asp |archive-date=April 14, 2010 }}</ref> Kahane encouraged Jews to take up firearms, through his slogan "every Jew a [[.22 caliber|.22]]".<ref name="Extremist">Burack, Emily (October 16, 2021) [https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-some-of-extremist-rabbi-onetime-mk-kahanes-ideas-entered-jewish-mainstream/ "How Some of Extremist Rabbi, Onetime MK Kahane's Ideas Entered Jewish Mainstream"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220222733/https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-some-of-extremist-rabbi-onetime-mk-kahanes-ideas-entered-jewish-mainstream/ |date=December 20, 2022 }}, ''The Times of Israel''. Retrieved December 20, 2022.</ref> 

The JDL said it was committed to five fundamental principles:

* Love of Jewry: One Jewish people, indivisible and united, from which flows the love for, and the feeling of pain of, all Jews.
* Dignity and Pride: Pride in and knowledge of [[Jewish tradition]], [[Jewish principles of faith|faith]], [[Jewish culture|culture]], [[Land of Israel|land]], [[Jewish history|history]], strength, pain, and peoplehood.
* Iron: The need to both move to help Jews everywhere and to change the Jewish image through sacrifice and all necessary means—even strength, force, and violence.
* Discipline and Unity: The knowledge that he (or she) can and will do whatever must be done, and the unity and strength of willpower to bring this into reality.
* Faith in the Indestructibility of the Jewish People: Faith in the greatness and indestructibility of the Jewish people, our religion, and our Land of Israel.

Kahane's wife Libby stated that the JDL favored "[[civil rights]] for [[black people|blacks]], but opposed black anti-Semites"<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought, Volume 1|last=Kahane|first=Libby|publisher=Urim Publications|year=2008|isbn=978-965-524-008-5|page=106|quote=The JDL favored civil rights for blacks, and opposed only black anti-Semites.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pK4RAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> and Kahane himself stated that the JDL was "not against any race, creed, or color. We are against anyone who is against the Jews."<ref>Shaul Magid, Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical (2021)</ref> In 1971, the JDL formed an alliance with a black rights group in what Kahane termed "a turning point in [[African American–Jewish relations|Black-Jewish relations]]".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.jta.org/1971/05/19/archive/black-group-jdl-pledge-common-action-for-soviet-jews-black-jewish-relations|title=Black Group, Jdl Pledge Common Action for Soviet Jews, Black-jewish Relations|date=May 19, 1971|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|quote=The leader of a black self help group and the national chairman of the Jewish Defense League met today and pledged "brotherhood". The unprecedented meeting between a black organization and the JDL, termed by Rabbi Kahane as a "turning point in Black-Jewish relations", took place in the Harlem headquarters of NEGRO (National Economic Growth and Reconstruction Organization).|access-date=March 3, 2016|archive-date=March 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307001630/http://www.jta.org/1971/05/19/archive/black-group-jdl-pledge-common-action-for-soviet-jews-black-jewish-relations|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Anti-Defamation League]] claimed that Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish [[nationalism]] which reflected racism, violence and political extremism"<ref name="backgrounder" /> that was replicated by [[Irv Rubin]], the JDL's successor to Kahane.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/presrele/extremism_72/4016_72.asp |title=ADL Commends FBI for Thwarting Alleged Bombing Plot By Jewish Extremists |publisher=Adl.org |access-date=November 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926205341/http://www.adl.org/presrele/extremism_72/4016_72.asp |archive-date=September 26, 2011 }}</ref>

== Terrorism and convictions ==
A number of the JDL's members and leaders, including Kahane, were convicted of acts related to [[domestic terrorism in the United States|domestic terrorism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0799/9907081.html |title=Middle East History: Jewish Defense League Unleashes Campaign of Violence in America |website= wrmea.com |access-date=November 23, 2011 |url-status= dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050423165647/http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0799/9907081.html |archive-date= April 23, 2005 }}</ref> In 1971, Kahane was sentenced to a suspended five-year prison sentence and fined $5,000 for conspiring to manufacture explosives.<ref name="NYT19710714">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | title = Kahane Gets 5-Year Suspended Sentence in Bomb Plot | first = Morris | last = Kaplan | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/24/archives/kahane-gets-5year-suspended-sentence-in-bomb-plot.html | date = July 24, 1971 | access-date = July 29, 2022 | page = 26 | archive-date = July 29, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220729105104/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/24/archives/kahane-gets-5year-suspended-sentence-in-bomb-plot.html | url-status = live }}</ref> In 1975, Kahane was arrested for leading the attack on the Soviet United Nations mission and injuring two officers, but he was released after being given summonses for [[disorderly conduct]]. Later the same year, Kahane was accused of conspiring to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, bomb the Iraqi embassy in Washington, and ship arms abroad from Israel. He was convicted of violating his [[probation]] for the 1971 bombing conviction and was sentenced to one year in prison.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | title = Kahane gets year in '71 conviction | date = February 22, 1975 | page = 18}}</ref> However, he served most of it in a hotel, with frequent unsupervised absences, because of a concession over the provision of [[kosher]] food.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | title = Kahane enjoys freedom as an Inmate | date = November 15, 1975 | page = 56 | first = Deirdre| last= Carmody}}</ref>

In a 1984 interview with ''[[Washington Post]]'' correspondent Carla Hall, Kahane admitted that the JDL "bombed the Russian [Soviet] mission in New York, the Russian cultural mission here [Washington] in 1971, the Soviet trade offices".<ref name="kushner">{{cite book |last=Kushner |first=Harvey W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOfkAoDb_2IC |title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism |publisher=SAGE |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7619-2408-1 |pages=192–193 |author-link=Harvey Kushner |access-date=January 25, 2015 |archive-date=November 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103141338/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOfkAoDb_2IC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url= https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/159817982.html?dids=159817982&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS&date=Sep+11%2C+1984&author=By+Carla+Hall&pub=The+Washington+Post++(1974-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=C1&desc=The+Message+of+Meir+Kahane| title= The Message of Meir Kahane: In Silver Spring, Boos and Applause for the Knesset Member Meir Kahane| first= Carla| last= Hall| date= September 11, 1984| newspaper= The Washington Post| access-date= July 6, 2017| archive-date= October 19, 2012| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121019085124/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/159817982.html?dids=159817982&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS&date=Sep+11,+1984&author=By+Carla+Hall&pub=The+Washington+Post++(1974-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=C1&desc=The+Message+of+Meir+Kahane| url-status= dead}}</ref>

==Emigration to Israel==
{{Main|Kach (political party)}}
[[File:Leader of the Kach right wing movement Meir Kahane speaking before his followers in his office in Tel Aviv (FL63435862).jpg|thumb|right|Kahane addressing his followers at the Tel Aviv offices of the [[Kach (political party)|Kach]] Israeli political party he established, 1984]]

In September 1971, Kahane [[aliyah|moved to Israel]]. At the time, he declared that he would focus on [[Jewish education]].<ref>{{cite book| first= Ehud| last= Sprinzak |year= 1999| title= Brother against Brother| publisher= The Free Press| page= 189| isbn= | url= }}</ref> He later began gathering lists of Palestinian citizens of the State of Israel who were willing to emigrate for compensation, and eventually, he initiated protests that advocated the expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel, and Palestinians of the [[Israeli-occupied territories]]. In 1972, Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed in [[Hebron]], calling for the mayor to stand trial for the [[1929 Hebron massacre]].<ref>{{cite web| title= The Kach Movement – Background| url= http://www.mfa.gov.il| website= mfa.gov.il| publisher= Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090117094828/http://mfa.gov.il/ |archivedate=January 17, 2009| date= March 3, 1994| access-date= }}</ref> Kahane was arrested dozens of times by Israeli law enforcement.<ref>{{cite AV media| work= [[60 Minutes]]| title= Meir Kahane| publisher= CBS}}</ref> In 1971, he founded [[Kach and Kahane Chai|Kach]], a political party that ran for the [[Knesset]], the Israeli Parliament, during the [[1973 Israeli legislative election|1973 general elections]] under the name "The League List". It won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the [[electoral threshold]] at the time (1%) for winning a Knesset seat. The party was even less successful in the [[1977 Israeli legislative election|1977 elections]], winning only 4,836 votes.

In 1980, Kahane was arrested for the 62nd time since his emigration, and he was jailed for six months after a detention order that was based on allegations of him planning armed attacks against [[Palestinians]] in response to the killings of Jewish settlers.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KnwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=baQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3057,1747482&dq=kahane+arrested&hl=en| title= Israelis arrest rabbi on terrorism charges| work= [[Montreal Gazette]]| date= May 15, 1980| via= Google News| access-date= | archive-date= March 9, 2021| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210309012037/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KnwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=baQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3057,1747482&dq=kahane+arrested&hl=en| url-status= live}}</ref> Kahane was held in prison in [[Ramla]], where he wrote the book ''They Must Go''. Kahane was banned from entering the UK in 1981.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19811023&id=plROAAAAIBAJ&pg=1701,3233841&hl=en| title= Britain Bars Meir Kahane| agency= Associated Press| work= The Spokesman-Review| via= Google News| date= October 23, 1981| access-date= November 4, 2021| archive-date= March 27, 2022| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220327092404/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19811023&id=plROAAAAIBAJ&pg=1701,3233841&hl=en| url-status= live}}</ref>

In 1981, Kahane's party again ran for the Knesset during the [[1981 Israeli legislative election|1981 elections]], but it did not win a seat and received only 5,128 votes. In 1984, the [[Israeli Central Elections Committee]] banned him from being a candidate on the grounds that Kach was a racist party, but the [[Supreme Court of Israel]] overturned the ban on the grounds that the committee was not authorized to ban Kahane's candidacy.<ref>{{cite news| title= Israel Court Drops Ban on 2 Political Parties| work= The New York Times| date= June 29, 1984| page= 3}}</ref> The Supreme Court suggested that the Knesset pass a law excluding racist parties from future elections. The Knesset responded in 1985 by amending the "Basic Law: Knesset" to include a prohibition (paragraph 7a) against the registration of parties that explicitly or implicitly incite racism.

=== Knesset ===
[[File:Leader of the Kach right wing movement Meir Kahane speaking before his followers in his office in Tel Aviv (FL63435243).jpg|thumb|right|Kahane addressing his followers in Tel Aviv, 1984]]
[[File:Leader of the Kach right wing movement Meir Kahane speaking before his followers in his office in Tel Aviv (FL45871085).jpg|thumb|right|Kahane addressing his followers in Tel Aviv, 1984]]
[[File:The Knesset plenum held a sitting today (FL45847884).jpg|thumb|right|Kahane addressing the Knesset while he was a member of the Israeli parliament, 1985]]

In the [[1984 Israeli legislative election|1984 legislative elections]], Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes (1.2%), gaining one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Friedman|first=Robert I.|authorlink=Robert I. Friedman|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1986/02/13/the-sayings-of-rabbi-kahane/|title=The Sayings of Rabbi Kahane|journal=The New York Review of Books|date=February 13, 2016|volume=33|issue=2|access-date=July 29, 2022|archive-date=July 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220729112335/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1986/02/13/the-sayings-of-rabbi-kahane/|url-status=live}}</ref> He refused to take the standard [[oath of office]] and insisted on adding a Biblical verse from [[Psalms]] to indicate that national laws were overruled by the [[Torah]] if they conflict. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out of the [[Land of Israel]], revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning [[Interfaith marriage in Judaism|Jewish-Gentile marriages]] and sexual relations.

While his popularity in Israel grew, Kahane was boycotted in the Knesset, where his speeches were often made to an empty assembly except for the duty chairman and the transcriptionist. The Knesset revoked his [[Parliamentary immunity]] to prevent his freedom of movement in areas where his inflammatory rhetoric could cause harm. Kahane's legislative proposals and motions of no-confidence against the government were ignored or rejected. Kahane often pejoratively called other Knesset members "[[Hellenistic|Hellenists]]," a reference to Jews who assimilated into [[Greek culture]] after [[Judea]]'s occupation by [[Alexander the Great]].

In 1987, Kahane opened a [[yeshiva]] ("HaRaayon HaYehudi") with funding from US supporters to teach "the Authentic Jewish Idea". Despite the boycott, his popularity grew among the Israeli public, especially for working-class [[Sephardi Jews]].<ref name="cut down">{{cite magazine | url= https://people.com/archive/after-a-career-of-preaching-hatred-for-arabs-rabbi-meir-kahane-is-cut-down-by-an-assassins-bullet-vol-34-no-20/ | title= After a Career of Preaching Hatred for Arabs, Rabbi Meir Kahane Is Cut Down by An Assassin's Bullet | date= November 19, 1990 | magazine= [[People (magazine)|People]] | first1= Bill | last1= Hewitt | first2= J. D. | last2= Podolsky | first3= Mira | last3= Avrech | volume= 34 | number= 29 | access-date= November 4, 2021 | archive-date= November 4, 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211104084657/https://people.com/archive/after-a-career-of-preaching-hatred-for-arabs-rabbi-meir-kahane-is-cut-down-by-an-assassins-bullet-vol-34-no-20/ | url-status= live }}</ref> Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0799/9907081.html| via= washington-report.org| title= Jewish Defense League Unleashes Campaign of Violence in America| work= The New York Times| date= October 17, 1988| access-date= | archive-date= October 8, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101008001518/http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0799/9907081.html| url-status= live}}</ref><ref>Freedman, Samuel G. {{Google books |id=6iHOrDQghpcC |page=196 |title=Jew vs. Jew: the struggle for the soul of American Jewry }}</ref>

In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to the [[Basic Law of Israel]], barring political parties that incited to racism. The Central Elections Committee banned Kahane a second time, and he appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court this time ruled in favor of the committee, disqualifying Kach from running in the [[1988 Israeli legislative election|1988 legislative elections]].{{refn|Shaul Magid, ''Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical'' (2021). Quote: Israeli legislators took the drastic action of amending the country’s Basic Laws to bar “racist parties and candidates” from running in Israeli elections. Known as article 7a of the Basic Laws, this amendment rendered KACH illegal, and Kahane and his party were removed from the Knesset.}} Kahane was thus the first candidate in Israel to be barred from election for racism. [[Shaul Magid]] writes that "This law was clearly legislated for Kahane and KACH alone; it was never successfully invoked again."<ref>Shaul Magid, ''Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical'' (2021)</ref> The law was criticized as being anti-democratic by the well-known lawyer and professor [[Alan Dershowitz]].<ref>{{cite book| title= Chutzpah| first= Alan M. | last= Dershowitz |author-link=Alan Dershowitz | pages= 191–192| year=1992| publisher= Touchstone| isbn= 978-0-671-76089-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3jjNW-_TnusC| via= Google Books}}</ref>{{non-primary source needed|date=April 2025}}

After Kahane's election to the Knesset in 1984, the United States government attempted to revoke his U.S. citizenship, an action which Kahane successfully challenged in court.<ref name= Chapter12a>{{cite web|url= http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/immigrationlaw/chapter12.html|title= Concepts of Citizenship|last1= Weissbrodt|first1= David|last2= Danielson|first2= Laura|year= 2004|website= hrlibrary.umn.edu|publisher= University of Minnesota Human Rights Library|access-date= July 28, 2019|quote= Kahane was a U.S. citizen at birth. He moved to Israel where he became active in politics and was elected to the Israeli Parliament. Kahane, aware of the fact that accepting an office under a foreign government was an expatriating act listed in INA 349 (a)(4), communicated on several occasions with the State Department that he did not intend to give up his U.S. citizenship. The State Department nonetheless claimed that Kahane committed the expatriating act by shifting his allegiance to Israel. The court rejected this argument because an actor who contemporaneously with the expatriating act declares his intent to stay a U.S. citizen automatically preserves his citizenship. ''Kahane v. Shultz'' (E.D.N.Y.1987).|archive-date= July 28, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190728090517/http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/immigrationlaw/chapter12.html|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/653/1486/2401125/|title=Kahane v. Shultz|year=1987|via=law.justia.com|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=August 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802175305/https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/653/1486/2401125/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, in 1987, the Knesset passed a law declaring that a Knesset member could only be an Israeli citizen.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b57912.html#_ftnref2|title=Israel: Basic Law of 1958, The Knesset (with amendments)|website=refworld.org|publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|access-date=August 17, 2020|quote=... added by the Amendment No. 10, passed by the Knesset on 19 May 1987 and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 1215 dated 27 May 1987.|archive-date=September 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230915151100/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b57912.html#_ftnref2|url-status=live}}</ref> To remain eligible for office, Kahane renounced his United States citizenship, but after being banned from the Knesset for his politics, he again filed suit to get his U.S. citizenship reinstated based on the argument that he was compelled to relinquish it by the Knesset. The court rejected this argument, but he was permitted to continue traveling to the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/immigrationlaw/chapter12.html|title= Concepts of Citizenship|last1= Weissbrodt|first1= David|last2= Danielson|first2= Laura|year= 2004|website= hrlibrary.umn.edu|publisher= University of Minnesota Human Rights Library|access-date= July 28, 2019|quote= One year later, the Israeli Parliament passed a law providing that its members could only be Israeli citizens. Kahane executed a formal oath of renunciation of his U.S. citizenship to remain eligible for a seat in the Parliament. After Kahane's party was barred, on different grounds, from running in the elections, Kahane tried to revoke his renunciation of U.S. citizenship claiming that the Israeli law compelled his act. The court ruled against Kahane, who remained expatriated, although he was permitted to visit the United States and was eventually assassinated in New York City. ''Kahane v. Secretary of State'' (D.D.C. 1988).|archive-date= July 28, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190728090517/http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/immigrationlaw/chapter12.html|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://casetext.com/case/kahane-v-secretary-of-state |title=''Kahane v. Secretary of State'' |year=1988 |via=casetext.com |access-date=August 17, 2020 |archive-date=March 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327092407/https://casetext.com/case/kahane-v-secretary-of-state |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Assassination==
{{Main|Assassination of Meir Kahane}}

In November 1990, Kahane gave a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews from [[Brooklyn]],<ref name="specter" /> in which he warned [[American Jews]] to [[aliyah|emigrate to Israel]] before it was "too late".<ref name="specter">{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/06/jewish-leader-kahane-slain-in-new-york/c9745d90-58e4-4352-9fab-074007f09bd9/ |title= Jewish Leader Kahane Slain in New York |last= Specter |first= Michael |date= November 6, 1990 |newspaper= The Washington Post |access-date= July 29, 2022 |archive-date= August 10, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160810160424/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/06/jewish-leader-kahane-slain-in-new-york/c9745d90-58e4-4352-9fab-074007f09bd9/ |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-06-mn-3996-story.html |title=Militant Rabbi Kahane Slain by N.Y. Gunman |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 6, 1990 |first=John J. |last=Goldman |access-date=April 12, 2012 |archive-date=November 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106060030/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-11-06/news/mn-3996_1_jewish-defense-league |url-status=live }}</ref> As a crowd gathered around Kahane in the second-floor lecture hall in [[Midtown Manhattan]]'s [[New York Marriott East Side]], Kahane was assassinated<ref name="juergensmeyer">{{cite book | last= Juergensmeyer |first= Mark |title=Terror in the Mind of God |publisher= University of California Press |year=2003 |page=59}}</ref><ref name="katz">{{cite book| last= Katz| first= Samuel M. |title= Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the manhunt for the al-Qaeda terrorists| year= 2002}}</ref><ref name="hamm">{{cite book| last= Hamm| first= Mark S. |year= 2007| title= Terrorism as Crime: From Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond| publisher= NYU Press| page= 29}}</ref> by [[El Sayyid Nosair]], an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen. He was initially charged and acquitted of the murder.<ref>{{cite news |first=Selwyn |last=Raab |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DA1330F930A15751C1A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=Jury Selection Seen As Crucial to Verdict |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 23, 1991 |access-date=March 30, 2013 |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216042332/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DA1330F930A15751C1A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> Nosair was later convicted of the murder in a U.S. district court for his involvement in the [[1993 World Trade Center bombing]]. Prosecutors were able to try Nosair again for the murder because the federal indictment included the killing as part of the alleged terrorist conspiracy.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.cnn.com/US/9510/terror_trial/update/| publisher= CNN| last= Jenkins| first= Brian| title= Sheik, others convicted in New York| date= October 1, 1995| access-date= | archive-date= February 5, 2019| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190205024100/http://www.cnn.com/US/9510/terror_trial/update/| url-status= live}}</ref> He was sentenced to life imprisonment and later made a confession to federal agents.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=184761| last= Scheffler| first= Gil| title= Sharon was Kahane killer's target| date= August 15, 2010| work= The Jerusalem Post| access-date= | archive-date= August 18, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100818001119/http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=184761| url-status= live}}</ref>

Kahane was buried on [[Har HaMenuchot]], in Jerusalem. He was eulogized by supporters in both the U.S. and in Israel, including Rabbi [[Moshe Tendler]] and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, [[Mordechai Eliyahu]], who spoke of how little the people understood of Kahane's true value.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

A few hours after news of the assassination of Kahane reached Israel, two elderly Palestinians, Mohammed Ali (73) and Mariam Suleiman Hassan (71), were gunned down in an incident ascribed to Kach militants. [[Noam Federman]] was quoted as saying that the slayings had been committed as revenge by Kahane supporters, and that more violence was in the pipeline.<ref>Michael Kelly [https://www.baltimoresun.com/1990/11/10/trotsky-kin-is-arrested-in-deaths-on-west-bank/ 'Trotsky kin is arrested in deaths on West Bank,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123115445/https://www.baltimoresun.com/1990/11/10/trotsky-kin-is-arrested-in-deaths-on-west-bank/ |date=January 23, 2024 }} [[The Baltimore Sun]] November 10, 1990</ref>

==Ideology==
{{Main|Kahanism}}
{{Far-right politics in Israel|People}}
Kahane argued that there was a glory in Jewish destiny, which came through the observance of the [[Torah]] and ''[[halakha]]'' (Jewish law). He observed, "Democracy and Judaism are not the same thing."<ref>"One absolutely cannot confuse them. The objective of a democratic state is to allow a person to do exactly as he wishes. The objective of Judaism is to serve God and to make people better. These are two totally opposite conceptions of life." {{cite web|url=http://kahane.org/meir/interview.htm |title=God's Law: an Interview with Rabbi Meir Kahane |access-date=December 18, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219141224/http://kahane.org/meir/interview.htm |archive-date=February 19, 2009}}</ref> Kahane was of the view a Jewish state and a Western democracy were incompatible, since Western democracy is religion-blind, and a Jewish state is religion-oriented by its very name. He feared non-Jewish citizens becoming a majority and voting against the Jewish character of the state: "The question is as follows: if the Arabs settle among us and make enough children to become a majority, will Israel continue to be a Jewish state? Do we have to accept that the Arab majority will decide?"<ref name="kahane.org">Kahane.org</ref> He also said that "you cannot have Zionism and democracy at the same ... Western democracy has to be ruled out. For me, that's cut and dried: There's no question of setting up democracy in Israel, because democracy means equal rights for all, irrespective of racial or religious origins."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Salaita |first1=Steven |title=Uncivil Rites Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom |date=2015 |publisher=Haymarket Books |page=120}}</ref>

Kahane proposed an "[[population transfer|exchange of populations]]" that would continue the [[Jewish exodus from Arab lands]]: "A total of some 750,000 Jews fled Arab lands since 1948. Surely it is time for Jews, worried over the huge growth of Arabs in Israel, to consider finishing the exchange of populations that began 35 years ago." Kahane proposed a $40,000 compensation plan for Arabs who would leave voluntarily, and forcible expulsion for those who "don't want to leave".<ref name="kahane.org"/> He encouraged retaliatory violence against Arabs who attacked Jews: "I approve of anybody who commits such acts of violence. Really, I don't think that we can sit back and watch Arabs throwing rocks at buses whenever they feel like it. They must understand that a bomb thrown at a Jewish bus is going to mean a bomb thrown at an Arab bus."<ref name="kahane.org"/>

In some of his writings, Kahane argued that Israel should never start a war for territory but that if a war were launched against Israel, Biblical territory should be annexed.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kahane|first1=Meir|title=Palestine?|url=http://mkwords.com/text/?i=86&a=Palestine|website=mkwords.com|year=1974|quote=If there are those who wish to create something known as 'Palestine' they are welcome to do so in 'Jordan' which in itself is a fictitious state created by the imperialist British by cutting away, in 1921, the eastern part of the Land of Israel. The Arabs who call themselves 'Palestinians' had the opportunity to create a 'Palestine' in a far larger part of the Land of Israel, but refused to do so. They lost that chance forever and if they refuse to create a state in 'Jordan' now, but insist upon war, they will lose again and lose 'Jordan' in the process because – while we will never begin a war for those parts of the [[Land of Israel]] now under foreign rule, should the Arabs begin that war, and we liberate still other areas of the Land of Israel, then those will never be given up either.|access-date=April 8, 2017|archive-date=April 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409022004/http://mkwords.com/text/?i=86&a=Palestine|url-status=live}}</ref> However, in an interview, he defined Israel's "minimal borders" as follows: "The southern boundary goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]], including [[Yamit]]. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the [[River Jordan|Jordan River]], hence part of what is now Jordan. [[Land of Israel|Eretz Yisrael]] also includes part of Lebanon and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to the [[Euphrates River]]."<ref name="kahane.org"/> When critics suggested that following Kahane's plans would mean a perpetual war between Jews and Arabs, Kahane responded, "There will be a perpetual war. With or without Kahane."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mergui |first1=Raphael |title=Israel's ayatollahs: Meir Kahane and the far right in Israel |last2=Simonnot |first2=Philippe |last3=Mergui |first3=Raphael |date=1987 |publisher=Saqi Books |isbn=978-0-86356-142-9 |location=London |page=55}}</ref>

==Support==
* [[Shlomo Aviner]] stated that Kahane was a righteous man who displayed self-sacrifice for the Jewish nation and also referred to him as a "Torah hero" whose every word was rooted in Torah sources.<ref name="Thirty Six"/>
* [[Herbert Bomzer]] referred to Kahane as "truly immersed in Torah all the time."<ref name="Thirty Six"/>
* [[Irving M. Bunim]] was a strong supporter and admirer of Kahane.<ref>{{cite book|title=As Long as the Candle Burns| year= 2015| publisher= Mazo Publishers|isbn=978-1936778423|author=Chana Bunim Rubin Ausubel|page=188|quote=As an activist he was an admirer and supporter of Rav Meir Kahane, when very few people were.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KReRrgEACAAJ}}</ref>
* [[Shlomo Carlebach]] and Kahane organized one of the first [[Noahidism|Noahide]] conferences in the 1980s for non-Jews wishing to accept the Noahide laws.<ref>{{cite news|last=Halevi|first=Ezra|title=Sanhedrin Recognizes Council to Teach Humanity ´Laws of Noah´|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/96347#.Vb_xDfm6evs|newspaper=Arutz 7 News|publisher=Arutz Sheva|date=January 10, 2006|access-date=August 25, 2015|archive-date=February 11, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211082046/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=96347#.Vb_xDfm6evs|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Bob Dylan]] made positive comments about Kahane. In a 1971 interview for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, Dylan said, "He's a really sincere guy. He's really put it all together."<ref>{{cite magazine | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | title = Bob Dylan interview | date=May 31, 1971}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/13995| title= Celebrating Bob Dylan's Zionist anthem| first= Richard| last= Mather| publisher= Arutz Sheva| access-date= November 4, 2021| archive-date= February 5, 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180205134337/https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/13995| url-status= live}}</ref>  According to Kahane, Dylan attended several meetings of the Jewish Defense League to find out "what we're all about",<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=734 | title = The Wandering Kind | first = Douglas | last = Wolk | website= nextbook.org| publisher = Next Book | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071128023757/http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=734 | archive-date = November 28, 2007 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> and he started to have talks with the rabbi.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Heylin| first = Clinton| title = Bob Dylan Behind the Shades. The Biography-Take Two| publisher = Penguin Books| year = 2001| location = London| page = 328| isbn = 978-0-14-028146-0| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LqxLNQAACAAJ}}</ref> Subsequently, Dylan downplayed the extent of his contact with Kahane.<ref>{{cite book| last=Heylin| first= Clinton| title= Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited| page= 329}}</ref>
* [[Mordechai Eliyahu]] was one of Kahane's staunchest supporters. He wrote a glowing approbation to one of Kahane's books, and eulogized him at his funeral in [[Messiah in Judaism|messianic]] terms.<ref>Pfeffer, Anshel (June 11, 2010) [https://www.haaretz.com/2010-06-11/ty-article/anshel-pfeffer-rabbi-mordechai-eliyahu-an-eloquent-racist/0000017f-e0fe-d75c-a7ff-fcff7a7c0000 "Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu – an Eloquent Racist"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614020002/https://www.haaretz.com/2010-06-11/ty-article/anshel-pfeffer-rabbi-mordechai-eliyahu-an-eloquent-racist/0000017f-e0fe-d75c-a7ff-fcff7a7c0000 |date=June 14, 2022 }}, ''Haaretz''. Retrieved June 13, 2022.</ref>
* [[Zvi Yehuda Kook]] endorsed Kahane in his bid for a Knesset seat. In his letter of support for Kahane, Kook stated, "The presence of Rabbi Meir Kahane and his uncompromising words from the Knesset platform will undoubtedly add strength and value to the obligatory struggle on behalf of the entire Land of Israel."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jta.org/archive/kook-supports-kahane | title=Kook Supports Kahane | date=March 20, 2015 | access-date=January 2, 2023 | archive-date=January 2, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102142904/https://www.jta.org/archive/kook-supports-kahane | url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Yosef Mendelevitch]] said "Kahane was a representative for us. His activities made us feel good. His actions showed that Jews cared. His actions may have been controversial, but his role was very important. He was a symbol for Russian Jews."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epi7mD1HWpU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Epi7mD1HWpU| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=L'Chayim: Soviet Refusenik, Yosef Mendelevich| date= November 26, 2012|via= YouTube |publisher=Shalom TV}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff]] said, "You can't imagine the influence Kahane had on so many young people. Kahane was a ''[[talmid chacham]]'' (Torah scholar) that we all looked up to."<ref name="Thirty Six"/>
* [[Menachem Mendel Schneerson]] supported Kahane on many issues concerning Israel, including the issue of Arabs, relinquishing land, building settlements and the incorporation of Jewish law into Israeli policy. After hearing of Kahane's death, Schneerson remarked that "one of the greatest Jewish leaders in history has fallen." He later blessed Kahane's son to be successful in fulfilling his "holy father's" work.<ref name="Thirty Six">{{cite web |title= Thirty-Six Little-Known Admirers of Rabbi Meir Kahane |website= jewishpress.com |date= November 18, 2016 |url= https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/interviews-and-profiles/thirty-six-little-known-admirers-of-rabbi-meir-kahane/2016/11/18 |access-date= November 28, 2019 |archive-date= April 23, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200423002944/https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/interviews-and-profiles/thirty-six-little-known-admirers-of-rabbi-meir-kahane/2016/11/18 |url-status= live }}</ref>
* [[Avraham Shapira]] stated that Kahane was an inseparable part of Orthodox Judaism. He later openly backed Kahane's State of Judea movement.<ref name="Thirty Six"/>
* After the Kach party was outlawed, a member of the [[Sicarii (1989)|Sicarii]] terrorist group pledged allegiance to Kahane and his political party during a phone call.<ref name=":Sicarii">{{Cite news|title=Underground group targets Jewish leftists| last= Rosenberg| first=Carol|date=April 28, 1989|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|page=A8|author-link=Carol Rosenberg}}</ref>
* [[Ahron Soloveichik]] stated, "What Kahane said was absolutely correct, just we don't say it because the world will criticize us, but somebody had to say it."<ref name="Thirty Six"/>
* [[Noach Weinberg]] wanted to hire Kahane for his staff.<ref name= "Thirty Six"/>
* [[Ya'akov Yosef]] described Kahane as one who fulfilled his role faithfully. He declared that "we must learn from his great actions in order that we learn the way of the Torah."<ref name= "Thirty Six"/>

==Legacy==
[[File:Old Jerusalem Kahane was right stickers.JPG|thumb|right|alt=In Hebrew: "Today, Everybody Knows: Rabbi Kahane was Right"|Stickers in Hebrew: "Today Everybody Knows: Kahane was Right" in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]] in the [[Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli-occupied]] [[West Bank]] ]]
[[File:Baruch Goldstein tomb.jpg|thumb|right|Tomb of the Kach supporter and perpetrator of the 1994 [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre]] against Palestinian worshipers, [[Baruch Goldstein]], located at the Meir Kahane's park in the Israeli settlement of [[Kiryat Arba]] in the West Bank ]]
[[File:Gas the Arabs painted in Hebron.jpg|thumb|Graffiti in [[Hebron]], in the [[Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli-occupied]] West Bank, calling for [[Gas chamber|the gassing]] of Arabs, above a [[Tag (graffiti)|tag]] for the right-wing group the [[Jewish Defense League]]<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Harkinson |first=Josh |date=March 11, 2015 |title=Why are US taxpayers subsidizing right-wing Israeli settlers? |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/03/hebron-fund-israeli-settlers-tax-exempt-irs-avaaz/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123185054/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/03/hebron-fund-israeli-settlers-tax-exempt-irs-avaaz/ |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |access-date=January 22, 2024 |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Matar |first=Haggai |date=May 10, 2014 |title=How I got involved in a 14-year-old girl's murder case |url=https://www.972mag.com/how-i-got-involved-in-a-14-year-old-girls-murder-case/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122195518/https://www.972mag.com/how-i-got-involved-in-a-14-year-old-girls-murder-case/ |archive-date=January 22, 2024 |access-date=January 22, 2024 |magazine=[[+972 Magazine]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>Baltzer, Anna. ''Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories''. page 279</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january152011/gassing-arabs-tg.php |title=Israeli 'Family Magazine' Fountains of Salvation Advocates Sending Arabs to Death Camps |publisher=Salem-News. Com |access-date=October 13, 2012}}</ref> The persistent graffiti in Hebron that calls for the expulsion or killing of Arabs has been characterized as Kahane's legacy.<ref>''Jewish Terrorism in Israel''. By Ami Pedahzur, Arie Perliger. 2009, page 73</ref><ref>''Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics''. Paul A. Djupe, Laura R. Olson. 2003, page 239</ref>]] The prosecution argued that Arab MK [[Haneen Zoabi]] should be banned for denying the Jewish people's existence, and she was banned by the Central Elections Committee, which uses the Kahane precedent. A week later, the ruling was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court. Attempts to ban the [[Yisrael Hazaka|Strong Israel]] and [[Balad (political party)|Balad]] political parties by using the Kahane precedent were also overturned.<ref>{{cite news|last=DAN WILNER|title=High Court Expected to Overturn Election Committee Ban on Zoabi|url=http://hamodia.com/2012/12/26/high-court-expected-to-overturn-election-committee-ban-on-zoabi/|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=Hamodia|date=December 26, 2012|archive-date=September 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920235116/http://hamodia.com/2012/12/26/high-court-expected-to-overturn-election-committee-ban-on-zoabi/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Israeli Arab Barred From Running in Election|url=http://forward.com/articles/167974/israeli-arab-barred-from-running-in-election/|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=The Jewish Daily Forward|date=December 19, 2012|archive-date=June 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619182433/http://forward.com/articles/167974/israeli-arab-barred-from-running-in-election/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following Kahane's death, no leader emerged to replace him in the movement. However, the idea of transferring populations, attributed mainly to Kahane, was subsequently incorporated into the political platform of several parties in Israel, such as [[Moledet]] (applying to Arab non-citizen residents of the West Bank) and [[Yisrael Beiteinu]] (in the form of population exchange).{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}} Two small Kahanist factions later emerged; one under the name ''Kach'', and the other under the name ''Kahane Chai'' (Hebrew: כהנא חי, literally "Kahane lives [on]"), the second one being led by his younger son, [[Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane]]. Neither one was permitted to participate in the Knesset elections by the [[Central Elections Committee]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}}

In 1994, following the [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre]] that saw Kach supporter [[Baruch Goldstein]] indiscriminately kill 29 Palestinian Muslim worshippers in [[Hebron]], the Israeli government declared both parties to be [[terrorist]] organizations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/kach.htm |title=Kach and Kahane Chai |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021216072525/http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/kach.htm |archive-date=December 16, 2002 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://212.150.54.123/organizations/orgdet.cfm?orgid=19 |title=Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011021859/http://212.150.54.123/organizations/orgdet.cfm?orgid=19 |archive-date=October 11, 2013 }}</ref> The US State Department also added Kach and Kahane Chai to its [[U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations|list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations]].

In the [[2003 Israeli legislative election|2003 Knesset elections]], [[Herut]], which had split off from the [[National Union (Israel)|National Union]] list, ran with [[Michael Kleiner]] and former Kach activist [[Baruch Marzel]] taking the top two spots on the list. The joint effort narrowly missed the 1.5% barrier. In the following [[2006 Israeli legislative election|2006 elections]], the [[Jewish National Front]], led by [[Baruch Marzel]], fared better, but it also failed to pass the minimum threshold. A follower of Kahane who was involved with Kach for many years, [[Michael Ben-Ari]], was elected to the Knesset in the [[2009 Israeli legislative election|2009 elections]] on renewed [[National Union (Israel)|National Union]] list. He stood again in the [[2013 Israeli legislative election|2013 elections]] as the second candidate on the list of [[Otzma LeYisrael]], but the party failed to pass the minimum threshold.

In 2007, the FBI released over a thousand documents relating to its daily surveillance of Kahane from the early 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|title=INTELWIRE.com – the documents|url=http://intelfiles.egoplex.com/1970-fbi-kahane.pdf|access-date=November 16, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 2015, Kahane's grandson, [[Meir Ettinger]], was detained by Israeli law enforcement. He was the alleged leader of the radical Jewish group "The Revolt".<ref>{{cite news|title=Cracking down on the settlers: Binyamin Netanyahu's double game|url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21660538-binyamin-netanyahus-double-game-cracking-down-settlers|access-date=August 8, 2015|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|archive-date=August 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809053502/http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21660538-binyamin-netanyahus-double-game-cracking-down-settlers|url-status=live}}</ref> In an online "manifesto" echoing some of his grandfather's teachings, Ettinger promotes the "dispossession of gentiles" who live in Israel and the establishment of a new "kingdom of Israel", a [[theocracy]] ruled according to the [[Halacha]]. Ettinger's writings condemned Israel's government, mainstream rabbis, and the IDF, and also have denounced Christian churches as "idolatry".<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-meir-ettinger.html Israeli Detains Meir Kahane's Grandson, a Scion of Jewish Militancy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731041408/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-meir-ettinger.html |date=July 31, 2017 }} ''The New York Times'', August 4, 2015</ref>

Libby Kahane, his widow, published the first volume of a biography ''Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought Vol. One: 1932–1975'' around 2008. A contributor to ''[[Haaretz]]'' said the book "lacks serious analysis", "ignores important unflattering details" and "serves as an apologetic".<ref name=carrying /> In 2016, Libby Kahane claimed that modern Jewish extremists in Israel do not follow the ideology of her late husband. She justified that claim by arguing that, unlike modern Jewish extremists, Rabbi Kahane had a more mature approach that did not encourage illegal activities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.702619|title=Kahane's Widow: Today's Jewish Extremists Have Failed to Live Up to Kahane's Way|last=Sales|first=Ben|date=February 10, 2016|work=Haaretz|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=July 29, 2022|archive-date=September 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905162416/http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.702619|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, ''[[The Forward]]'' reported that some of Kahane's followers were aligning themselves with [[white nationalism|white nationalists]] and the [[alt-right]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/366477/jewish-militants-seek-white-nationalist-alliance-but-draw-the-line-at-nazis/|title=Jewish Militants See White Nationalists As Natural Allies|work=The Forward|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-date=March 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320202215/http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/366477/jewish-militants-seek-white-nationalist-alliance-but-draw-the-line-at-nazis/|url-status=live}}</ref> Other Kahanists declared that such moves did not reflect Kahane's teachings, and they supported that declaration by arguing that Kahane worked together with African Americans.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-1.763389|title=Drawing Inspiration From Trump, Far-right Kahane Movement Seeks U.S. Revival|last=Krupkin|first=Taly|date=January 7, 2017|work=Haaretz|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-date=March 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322014159/http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-1.763389|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Publications==
<!-- there are 16 ISBNs in here already, so the HateNote/HatNote scarecrow isn't so encouraging to the average Wiki reader, is it? -->
<!-- {{lacking ISBN|date=October 2017}} !SEE ABOVE -->
* (Partially under pseudonym Michael King; with [[Joseph Churba]]) ''The Jewish Stake in Vietnam'', Crossroads, 1967<ref>{{cite book |year=1967    |title=The Jewish Stake in Vietnam}}</ref>
* ''Never Again! A Program for Survival'', Pyramid Books, 1972<ref>{{cite book |year=1972  |isbn=978-0-5150-2745-7
   |title=Never Again! A Program for Survival  |publisher=Pyramid Books}}</ref>
* ''Time to Go Home'', Nash, 1972.<ref>{{cite book |year=1972    |title=Time to Go Home
       |publisher=Nash  |isbn=978-0-8402-1306-8}}</ref>
* ''Letters from Prison'', Jewish Identity Center, 1974<ref>{{cite book |year=1974    |title=Letters from Prison}}</ref>
* ''Our Challenge: The Chosen Land'', 1974<ref>{{cite book  |isbn=978-0-8019-6023-9
   |publisher=Chilton  |year=1974 |author=Meir Kahane
   |title=Our Challenge: The Chosen Land}}</ref>
* ''The Story of the Jewish Defense League'', Chilton, 1975, 2nd edition, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, (Brooklyn, NY), 2000
* ''Why Be Jewish? Intermarriage, Assimilation, and Alienation'', Stein & Day, 1977
* ''Listen, Vanessa, I Am a Zionist'', Institute of the Authentic Jewish Idea, 1978
* ''[[They Must Go]]'', Grosset & Dunlop, 1981<ref>{{cite book |year=1981
   |title=They Must Go |publisher=Grosset & Dunlop |isbn=978-0-4481-2026-3}}</ref>
* ''Forty Years'', Institute of the Jewish Idea, 2nd edition, 1983
* ''[[Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews]]'', Lyle Stuart, 1987<ref>{{cite book |year=1987
   |title=Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews
   |publisher=Lyle Stuart  |isbn= 978-0-8184-0438-2 }}</ref>
* ''Israel: Revolution or Referendum'', Barricade Books (Secaucus, NJ), 1990
* ''Or ha-ra'yon'', English title: ''The Jewish Idea'', n.p. (Jerusalem), 1992, translated from the Hebrew by Raphael Blumberg, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1996
* ''On Jews and Judaism: Selected Articles 1961–1990'', Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993
* ''Perush ha-Makabi: al Sefer Devarim'', Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993, 1995
* ''Pirush HaMaccabee: al Sefer Shemu'el u-Nevi'im rishonim'', Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1994
* ''Listen World, Listen Jew'', 3rd edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1995<ref>{{cite book |isbn=978-9-6522-2350-0  |title=Listen World, Listen Jew, 3rd edition  |year=1995|last1=Kahane |first1=Meir |publisher=Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane }}</ref>
* ''Beyond Words'', 1st edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 2010.
* ''Kohen ve-navi: osef ma'amarim'', ha-Makhon le-hotsa'at kitve ha-Rav Kahana (Jerusalem), 2000
* ''Cuckooland'', illustrated by Shulamith bar Itzhak (yet unpublished).

==See also==
{{Portal|Israel|Politics|Biography}}
* [[Jewish fundamentalism]]
* [[Politics of Israel]]
* [[Zionist political violence]]
{{-}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
For supplementary information and insights:

* {{Citation | url = http://www.kahanebooks.com/wit.php | title = The Wit and Wisdom of Rabbi Meir Kahane | first = Lenny | last = Goldberg | access-date = August 28, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071111022823/http://www.kahanebooks.com/wit.php | archive-date = November 11, 2007 | url-status = dead }}.
* ''Miracle Man'', Yeshivat "HaRaayon HaYehudi" (Jerusalem), 2010
** {{Citation | url = https://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=193556 | title = The Jerusalem Post | date = June 4, 2011 | contribution = Rabbi Meir Kahane debuts as a comic book hero | access-date = November 2, 2010 | archive-date = November 3, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101103034521/http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=193556 | url-status = live }}
* {{Citation | title = Kahane et le Kahanisme | first = Shulamith | last = Bar Itzhak | language = fr}}.
* {{Citation | title = Meir Kahane: Ideologue, Hero, Thinker | first = Daniel | last = Breslauer | place = Lewiston/Queenston | publisher = [[Edwin Mellen Press]] | year = 1986}}.
* {{Citation | title = The Boundaries of Liberty and Tolerance: The Struggle Against Kahanism in Israel | place = Gainesville, FL | publisher = University Press of Florida | year = 1994}}.
* {{Citation | title = The False Prophet: Rabbi Meir Kahane, from FBI Informant to Knesset Member | first = Robert I |last = Friedman|authorlink=Robert I. Friedman | place = Brooklyn, NY | publisher = Lawrence Hill | year = 1990}}.
* {{Citation |title= Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical |first=Shaul|last=Magid|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2021}}.
* {{Citation | title = Israel's Ayatollahs: Meir Kahane and the Far Right in Israel | first1 = Raphael | last1 = Mergui | first2 = Phillipe | last2 = Simonnot|publisher=Saqi Books|year=1987}}.
* {{Citation | url = http://members.tripod.com/alabasters_archive/roots_of_kahanism.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130109080000/http://members.tripod.com/alabasters_archive/roots_of_kahanism.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 9, 2013 | title = The Roots of Kahanism: Consciousness and Political Reality | first = Aviezer | last = Ravitzky }}.
* {{Citation | url = http://members.tripod.com/alabasters_archive/kach_and_kahane.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121210045527/http://members.tripod.com/alabasters_archive/kach_and_kahane.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = December 10, 2012 | title = Kach and Meir Kahane: The Emergence of Jewish Quasi-Fascism | first = Ehud | last = Sprinzak }}.
* {{Citation | title = Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought Volume One 1932–1975 | first = Libby | last = Kahane | year = 2008}}.
* {{Citation | title = Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought Volume Two 1976–1983| first = Libby | last = Kahane | year = 2019}}.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{MKlink|id=455}}
* [http://mkwords.com/ Words] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415052554/http://mkwords.com/ |date=April 15, 2016 }} online educational resource
* [http://vault.fbi.gov/meir-kahane FBI file on Meir Kahane] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722001735/http://vault.fbi.gov/meir-kahane |date=July 22, 2011 }}

{{Jewish Defense League}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahane, Meir}}
[[Category:Meir Kahane| ]]
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