Kach and Kahane Chai
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Kach (כ"ך - kakh, acronym of כהנא לכנסת Kahana LaKneset "Kahane to the Knesset", alluding to the Irgun motto rak kakh: "only thus") was a far-right political party in Israel founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane. After his assassination in 1990, it split into two movements, Kach and Kahane Chai (Kahana Hai: "Kahane Lives"). The US State Department[1], Israeli Government, and European Union[2] all consider these groups as terrorist organizations. This article deals with all of these groups.
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[edit] Kach
Today in Israel being a member of Kach is against the law. Kahane's Kach maintained two central, political planks in their platform. The first was the proposed forced transfer of Arabs from the borders of Israel, including Israeli Arabs who did not accept the conditions of Ger toshav. The second was the establishment of a theocracy in Israel, namely a state in the borders of Eretz Yisrael (the biblical land of Israel) ruled by traditional Jewish law (Halakha).
Kach candidates ran for seats in the Knesset in 1973, only two years after Kahane's arrival to Israel. It failed to attract the minimum number of votes (at the time, one percent). It continued to fail to win the minimum number of votes in the elections of 1977 and 1981.
In the run-up to the 1984 elections, the Central Elections Committee (CEC) disqualified Kach from running for the reason that "it advocates racist and anti-democratic principles, that it openly supports terrorist acts, that it seeks to foment enmity and hatred between different segments of the population and that its goals and objectives negate the fundamentals of the democratic regime that prevails in the country." Kach appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which overturned the CEC's decision on the grounds that existing law did not provide a basis to disqualify a party on the stated grounds.[3] The party ran for election and gained a single seat which was occupied by Kahane.
This caused significant alarm in Israel. In 1985, Basic Law: The Knesset (one of the Basic Laws of Israel) was amended to add section 7a, "Prevention of Participation of Candidates List." This provision ensured that:
- 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.
The first clause was specifically targeted at the Progressive List for Peace, and the third clause at Kach. Both parties had been elected for the first time to the Knesset.
Before the 1988 elections, the CEC disqualified both parties. Both appealed to the Supreme Court of Israel. The court upheld the disqualification of Kach, finding that its principles constituted "incitement to racism," but reversed the disqualification of the Progressive List for Peace. This effectively ended Kach's existence as a political party.
[edit] Split of Kach
Following Kahane's assassination in 1990 by El Sayyid Nosair, the movement split into two groups with similar ideologies and somewhat overlapping membership: Kach and Kahane Chai. Kach was originally led by Rabbi Avraham Toledano and later by Baruch Marzel out of Hebron. Kahane Chai was led by Meir's son Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane out of Kfar Tapuach until he and his wife were murdered in a random ambush by Palestinians in 2000. Both groups were outlawed by Israel in 1994 under anti-terrorism laws following statements in support of Baruch Goldstein's (himself a Kach supporter)[2] massacre of 29 Palestinians at the Cave of the Patriarchs. 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. Presumably, most of Kach's electorate moved to other parties such as Rehavam Zeevi's Moledet.
Following the stopping 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 "Official Kahane Website". 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 the period 2001 – 2003. It maintained websites posting Kahanist political commentary and held meetings with informal members. The organization was headed by Israeli-born student Efraim Hershkovits, who lived in Montreal, Canada. 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 added to the United States' list of terrorist organizations as an alias for "Kach". Hershkovits was arrested on August 7, 2005 and placed in administrative detention for three months by Israeli authorities.
[edit] Kach's effect today
The United States Department of State designates the group as a terrorist organization [3] and says that it has engaged in terrorist activity by
- using explosives or fire arms with intent to endanger the safety of individuals or cause substantial damage to property
- threatening and conspiring to carry out assassinations
- soliciting funds and members for a terrorist organization
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. But several individuals in the US are challenging the terrorist designation in court, claiming that the Kahane parties have never participated in or taken credit for a single terrorist incident.
In the 2003 elections former Kach leader Baruch Marzel ran as number two on the Herut party list. The party narrowly missed obtaining a seat. In 2004 he founded the Chayil Party a.k.a. "National Jewish Front" (חזית יהודית לאומית). The party run in the 2006 elections and gained 24824 votes - about 0.7% of the populace, and about 40% of the minimal number of votes required for entry.
[edit] Names listed as active with Kach/Kahane Chai in the Department of State administrative record
Note: in most but not all cases, the citation is simply to the first mention of a given name within the record. In a few instances, citations are provided to names already mentioned due to the significance of the mention(s).
KAH03-1 – Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002, US Department of State, April 2003, pp. 55-56, 111-112
Rabbi Meir Kahane (founder of Kach)
Binyamin Kahane (founder of Kach offshoot Kahane Chai)
Dr. Baruch Goldstein (affiliated with Kach, carried out February 1994 attack on the al-Ibrahimi Mosque)
KAH03-2 – “Terrorism/Kahane Chai (Kach)” Center for Defense Information, October 1, 2002
Yigal Amir (assassin of Prime Minister Yitshak Rabin in 1995, member of Eyal a.k.a. the Jewish Fighting Organization, linked to Kach and Kahane Chai)
Baruch Marzel (head of Kach after the 1990 assassination of Meir Kahane)
Uri Amir (leader of kahanist youth group Noar Meir) convicted by Israeli court for sedition after distributing flyers endorsing the murder of Arabs, praising Rabin’s assassination, and encouraging people to donate to the “Baruch Goldstein Fund.”
KAH03-7 –“Make Donations!” and other materials from the internet at http:www.kahane.org, accessed Feb. 25, 2003
Lenny Goldberg, editorial director of “Darka Shel Torah” and HaMeir publications, touring the US
David Ha’ivri, contact for Lenny Goldberg
F. Sidman, weekly columnist
KAH03-8 – “Terrorism: Sympathizers of Kahane Chai and Kach Rebuild WWW Presence, Call for Assassination of Yasir Arafat,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service Memorandum, 2002
Michael Guzofsky, billing contact for kahane.org
Efraim Hershkovits, administrative contact for newkach.org, and sponsor of the Montreal chapter of the New Kach – Jewish Defense Force.
KAH03-9 – “Kach leader Federman, along with son of Hebron settlement founder arrested as Jewish terror suspects,” an unclassified cable from U.S. Consulate Jerusalem, May 15, 2002
Menashe Levinger, a Gush Etzion resident and son of Moshe, founder of the Gush Emunim Movement, arrested along with
Noam Federman, a leader of Kach and resident of Hebron in connection with the attempted bombing of a girls’ school in East Jerusalem
KAH03-12 – “Israel: Jewish Terror Cell Members Confess Plans to Attack Arab Targets,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service Report, may 16, 2002
Shlomo Dvir (Zelliger) and Yarden Morag, both from the settlement of Bat Ayin, confess to planting “powerful” bomb between Mokassed Hospital and an elementary school in the Mount of Olives.
KAH03-14 – “Israeli Shin Bet Fails to Catch Jewish Terror Cells, Denies Targeting Kakh Group,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service report, July 12, 2002
Tzuriel Amiur, resident of the settlement of Givat Adei-Ad, indicted in the Mokassed Hospital bombing attempt
KAH03-17 – “Israel: Extreme Right to Launch Anti-Sharon Campaign, Huge Demo Planned for 4 Jun,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service report, May 28, 2003
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Kach member, attended meeting deciding to hoist placards stating “Sharon is a Traitor” and hand out pictures of Sharon clad in a keffiyeh.
Ben Levin, Kfar Tapuach settlement resident, stated “Sharon is a traitor.”
KAH03-26 “Israel: Article Profiles Kakh Activist, Knesset Election Candidate Barukh Marzel,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service report, Jan. 3, 2003
Baruch Marzel, “Marzel had acquired a police record of some 40 files before he was 30: his record includes disturbances in the Cave of the Patriarchs, assault (which earned him a 12-month suspended prison sentence), staging a riot in Al-Duhayshah (a three-month suspended sentence and a NIS 400 fine), vandalizing Arab vehicles in Hebron, assaulting an Israeli TV crew (six months in jail, three months suspended, NIS 3,000 fine), assaulting an Arab (four months suspended imprisonment and a fine), assaulting a police officer, assaulting [political activist] Uri Avneri, causing damage to the municipality building in Ashqelon after the town square had been renamed in memory of Muhammad V, and more… It was, and still is, claimed that Marzel is at the head of the Kakh terror organization according to people in the State Attorney’s office…”
KAH03-35 Copy of letters sent by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism to Kahane Chai counsels etc.
Michael R. Guzofsky, Jacob Guzofsky, Richard Zim, Eric Greenberg, Fern Sidman, recipients of September 3, 2003 letter from William P. Pope, Acting Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism, Department of State, claiming “We believe you might represent Kahane Chai (also known as Kach and other aliases) in the United States.”
[edit] Violence associated with Kahanists
- In August 2005 Eden Natan-Zada, opened fire in a bus in Shfar'am killing four people and wounding 22.
According to Council on Foreign Relations [4] Kach and Kahane Chai have been associated with these terrorist acts:
- In February 1994 Baruch Goldstein, a Kach supporter, opened fire on Palestinian worshippers inside the Abraham Mosque in Hebron, killing twenty-nine people and wounding many others.
- In the 1980s The Makhteret, a militant group with links to Kach, staged several attacks against Palestinian officials who were claimed to have spearheaded various terrorist attacks against Israelis.
- Israeli authorities have foiled Makhteret's plans to blow up the al-Aqsa Mosque.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Official Kahane Website
- Books by Rabbi Kahane
- Terrorist Group Profiles: Kach and Kahane Chai (from the United States State Department)
- International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism: Kach and Kahane Chai
- PBS Frontline
- DC Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Denying Kach/Kahane Chai's Motion to Overturn Their FTO Designation
- ^ state.gov: US list of foreign terrorist organizations from 11 October 2005
- ^ europa.eu EU list of terrorist organisations, 29 May 2006
- ^ Supreme Court of Israel sitting as a Court of Election Appeals, EA 2-3/84: Moshe Neiman et al. versus Chairman of the Central Elections Committee for the 11th Knesset [1] (128 pages). The quotation is from the editor's summary, page 1.
