2025-11-11 05:27:PM <br/> Tags: #people #KeyPeople #Israel #AmericanJewry #ReligiousJudaism ![[image-174.png|677x501]] # Meir Kahane (1932-1990) - Meir Kahane (pronounced May-er Kuh-hon-uh) was an American-Israeli rabbi, politician, and radical right wing militant leader. #### Biography - Meir Kahane was born in Brooklyn in 1932. - In 1946 Kahan joined [[Betar]]. - Betar is the [[Revisionist Zionism|Revisionist Zionist]] youth organization founded in 1923 in Latvia by [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]]. - As a child Kahane met [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]] and [[Hillel Kook]]. *Kahane's father was close with the Revisionists.* - Jabotinsky was the founder and leader of [[Revisionist Zionism]]. - Kook was the top Revisionist operative in the United States during the 1940s. #### Liberalism and Assimilation - Meir Kahane's rise in the late 1960s occurred against the backdrop of American liberalism, and its fracture into left wing militancy. - Kahane viewed Jewish embracement of American liberalism as a crisis. - Kahane believed that the erasure of Jews as a proud and distinct group was imminent given the Jewish acceptance of Americanism. - Kahane sought to mold a 'New Jew'; a Jew that hits back rather than accept his fate. (Magid, _Meir Kahane_, 39-41) - To Kahane, the New Jew was the opposite of the 'old Jews' of the holocaust generation, who are often considered weak and unwilling to break the rules even for mere survival. - Further, Kahane's New Jew was considered the resurgence of the true old Jew; the Jews of the first and second centuries AD who revolted against the Romans, particularly Simon Bar Kokhba (135 AD) and Simon bar Giora (66-73 AD). (Magid, _Meir Kahane_, 41) #RedPill *The ever present motif of Jewish resentment of the Romans. This resentment has morphed through the centuries and the many nations of Europe. Today, Jews like Kahane consider all Gentiles to be afflicted with eternal antisemitism, always on the precipice of another holocaust.* #### Jewish Militancy and the JDL - In 1968, Kahane formed the [[Jewish Defense League (JDL)]], a violent Jewish gang-like organization. - The JDL was underpinned with Kahane's religious Judaism, however the JDL was entirely secular in its recruitment, messaging and activities. - Kahane believed the JDL was best suited as a Jewish organization first and foremost, with Jewish pride and "survival" paramount. Religious Judaism was no prerequisite. - Kahane's advocacy for Jewish militancy and violence was drawn from the radical [[Revisionist Zionism|Revisionist Zionists]] of the early 20th century. (Magid, _Meir Kahane_, 35,40,49) - The likes of [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]], [[Menachem Begin]], [[Avraham Stern]] and their [[Irgun and Lehi Zionist Paramilitary Organizations|Jewish terror groups]] were the inspiration for Kahane and his 'New Jews.' #### Kahane in Israel - Kahane was an initial supporter of [[Menachem Begin]] when he won the 1977 Israeli elections, becoming the first [[Likud]] Prime Minister. - However, after the 1978 Camp David Accords, *(the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt that included Israel relinquishing control of the Sinai Peninsula)* Kahane considered Begin a traitor. - Kahane was enraged that Begin seemed to succumb to a "fear of Gentile pressure." (Sprinzak 1999, [192](https://archive.org/details/brotheragainstbr0000spri/page/192/mode/2up)) - In a [Q&A with American students](https://youtu.be/s991VItGrYU) in what appears to be the early-mid 1980s, Kahane viciously attacked the reliance of Israel on American foreign aid. - Kahane stated, "The worst thing that can happen to us is for America to keep giving us money... The day that I'm Prime Minister, we automatically cut off economic aid. I don't want money from America... I don't want their money. Their money doesn't help us, because their money gives them the leverage." #RedPill *Crucial red pill. The "Israel problem" is not one of foreign aid. Foreign aid is the low hanging fruit. The reasons that Meir Kahane and Ben Shapiro wish Israel didn't get U.S. foreign aid are completely contrary to the America-First, American-Sovereignty positions. Hardline Jews lament the fact that the U.S. has any control over Israel. The problem is Israeli influence, often in the form of domestic American-Jewish influence. The foreign aid is a somewhat unimportant byproduct of Jewish influence.* - In that same Q&A Kahane lambasted what he viewed as Israeli timidness in regards to military action and starting wars. - He attacked the Israeli government for following the orders of the United States. - He praised the [[1967 Six Day War]] stating, "In 67' we didn't listen to anybody. We struck the first blow. We didn't care what the world would say. We started.. We started that war. Thank God. We didn't wait for them to start it. Thank God." - After praising the [[1967 Six Day War]], Kahane lamented the [[1973 Yom Kippur War]], bashing Prime Minister [[Golda Meir]], "who will not be ever, ever, forgiven for that. The horror she did." - Kahane was assassinated in Manhattan by an Egyptian born Islamist on November 5th, 1990. - Kahane, though treated as a pariah figure by much of the Jewish establishment, had one of the largest funerals in Israeli history. - Around 15,000 people attended Kahane's Jerusalem funeral procession. (Magid, _Meir Kahane_, 192) *Note: my copy of Magid's book claims 150,000 people attended. This seems to be a misprint. The footnotes and online sources all point towards 15,000. * #### Legacy - Kahanism and the Jewish Radical Right. - On February 25, 1994, Dr. Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Palestinian Muslims at a mosque in the West Bank city Hebron, killing 29. (Bergman, _Rise and Kill First_, 422) - Goldstein was an American born Jew, childhood acquaintance of Kahane, and a member of the JDL. - Goldstein was a member of Kahane's Kach party; Goldstein ran in the 1984 Knesset elections on the Kach party list, placing third on the list of Kach candidates. - Goldstein was an Israeli settler in the West Bank settlement Kiryat Arba. - *Importantly, Goldstein was not considered a fanatic, a lunatic, or someone afflicted with mental illness. Goldstein was considered "pious" and even honorable within his settlement and the broader Israeli religious far-right.* - Current Israeli government minister [[Itamar Ben-Gvir]] is known to have kept a portrait of Goldstein on display. - Ben-Gvir is an admirer and disciple of Kahane, and a member of Kahane's Kach party. #### Recommended Reading Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical - Shaul Magid #### References - Jonathan Mark, “Days of Rage: Kahane in New York,” _The Jewish Week_, March 6, 2019, [https://www.jta.org/2019/03/06/ny/days-of-rage-kahane-in-new-york](https://www.jta.org/2019/03/06/ny/days-of-rage-kahane-in-new-york). *Covers connection to Hillel Kook.* - Bergman, Ronen. _Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations._ Translated by Ronnie Hope. New York: Random House, 2018, 422. - Sprinzak, Ehud. _Brother Against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin Assassination._ New York: Free Press, 1999. Pages 192, 242. https://archive.org/details/brotheragainstbr0000spri/page/242/mode/2up - Magid, Shaul. _Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical._ Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2021, 35, 40, 41, 49. - Brownfeld, Allan C. “AIPAC, Dark Money, and the Assault on Democracy.” _Association for Middle East Understanding_, November 22, 2023. [https://www.ameu.org/2023/11/22/aipac-dark-money-and-the-assault-on-democracy/](https://www.ameu.org/2023/11/22/aipac-dark-money-and-the-assault-on-democracy/). *Mentions Ben-Gvir's Baruch Goldstein photo.*