Meir Kahane | |
|---|---|
מאיר כהנא | |
.jpg) Kahane in New York in 1984 | |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1984–1988 | Kach |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Martin David Kahane (1932-08-01)August 1, 1932 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 5, 1990(1990-11-05) (aged 58) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Manner of death | Assassination by gunshot |
| Political party | Kach |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingBinyamin |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
Meir David HaKohen Kahane (/kəˈhɑːnə/kə-HAH-nə;Hebrew:רבי מאיר דוד הכהן כהנא; bornMartin David Kahane;[1] August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was anIsraeliOrthodox ordainedrabbi, writer andultra-nationalist politician. He was the founder of the Israeli political partyKach, whose ideology continues to influence militant andfar-right political groups active today in Israel.[2] Kahane was convicted of multiple acts ofterrorism in the United States and in Israel.
Born in 1932 inBrooklyn, 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 fromNew York University. In 1968, he founded theJewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City, whose self-described purpose was to fightanti-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 theIsraeli-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 againstPalestinians. Kahane was held in prison inRamla, where he wrote the bookThey Must Go. In the1984 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, urgingAmerican Jews toemigrate to Israel, when he wasassassinated byEl Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-American national. Kahane was buried inWest Jerusalem.
During his lifetime Kahane publicized hisKahanism ideology throughout the United States. In Israel, he proposed enforcinghalakha (Jewish law) as codified byMaimonides[3] and hoped that Israel would eventuallyadopt it as state law.[4] 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, forbidsexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, separate Jewish and Arab neighborhoods, and end cultural meetings between Jewish and Arab students.[5] He went so far as to demand that non-Jews in Israel either become slaves or face deportation.[6] He also popularized the slogan "For Every Jew a.22."[7] He supported the restriction of Israel's democracy to its Jewish citizens, and endorsed the annexation of theIsraeli-occupiedPalestinian territories of theWest Bank andGaza Strip.[8]
Meir Kahane was born inBrooklyn, New York, to anOrthodox Jewish family.[9] Kahane was a member of an established rabbinic family, including his father, who was head of the Flatbush Board of Rabbis.[10]: 287 His father, Yechezkel Shragei (Charles) Kahane (1905–1978), was the rabbi of a large synagogue in Brooklyn, author of the interpretiveTorah translationTorah Yesharah, and a strong supporter of theRevisionist Zionist movement.[11] Kahane's grandfather was Nachman Kahane (1869–1937), a leading rabbinic scholar inSafed, who was the son of Baruch David Kahane (1850–1925), the author ofHibat ha-Eretz, and a disciple ofChaim Halberstam of Sanz. Baruch David was a direct descendant ofSimcha Rappaport (1650–1718), of theRappaport rabbinic family, who were allegedly able to trace their ancestry back toEleazar ben Azariah, a 1st-century sage in theLand of Israel. Baruch David immigrated toOttoman Palestine from Poland in 1873.[12] Kahane's father was born in Safed while his mother Sonia was born inLatvia.[13] An uncle of Kahane's was killed in Safed during the1929 Palestine riots.[14]
As a teenager, Kahane became an ardent admirer ofEri Jabotinsky andPeter Bergson, who were frequent guests in his parents' home. He joined theBetar (Brit Trumpeldor) youth wing of Revisionist Zionism. He was active in protests againstErnest Bevin, theBritish Foreign Secretary who maintained restrictions on the emigration of Jews, evenHolocaust survivors, to Palestine after the end of theSecond 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 theNew York Daily News.[15] In 1954, he became the Mazkir (Secretary) of Greater New York City's 16Bnei Akiva chapters.[citation needed]
Kahane's formal education includedYeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school andBrooklyn Talmudical Academy for high school.[16] Kahane received hisrabbinical ordination from theMir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he was especially admired by the head RabbiAbraham Kalmanowitz.[17] He was fully conversant in theTanakh (Jewish Bible), theTalmud, theMidrash andJewish law. Subsequently, Kahane earned a B.A. inpolitical science fromBrooklyn College in 1954, a Bachelor of Law – LL.B. fromNew York Law School, and an M.A. in International Relations fromNew York University.[1][18]
In 1956, Kahane married Libby Blum, with whom he had four children:[19] Tzipporah,[20] Tova, Baruch, andBinyamin.[19][21] 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).[22] 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.[22] Upon receiving the letter, D'Argenio jumped off theQueensboro Bridge and died of her injuries the next day.[23][24] In 2008, Kahane's wife dismissed the incident as lacking proof.[25]
After D'Argenio's death, Kahane started the Estelle Donna Evans Foundation in her name.[22][25] 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.[22] In reality, the money was used to fund the JDL, including supplies for bombings and Kahane's lavish travel.[22]
In 1958, Kahane became the rabbi of theHoward Beach Jewish Center in Queens, New York City. Although the synagogue was originallyConservative, rather than strictlyOrthodox, the board of directors agreed to Kahane's conditions, which included resigning from the Conservative movement'sUnited Synagogue of America, installing apartition separating men and women during prayer, instituting traditional prayers, and maintaining akosher kitchen.[26] At the Jewish Center, Kahane influenced many of the synagogue's youngsters to adopt a more observant lifestyle, which often troubled parents.[27][28] He trainedArlo Guthrie for hisbar mitzvah.[29] 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 inThe Jewish Press, an American Orthodox Jewish weekly for which he would continue to write for the rest of his life.[30] Kahane also used the pen name David Sinai, and the pseudonyms Michael King, David Borac, and Martin Keene.[31]
In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Kahane's life of secrecy and his stronganticommunism landed him a position as a consultant with theFBI. According to his wife, Libby, his assignment was to infiltrate the anticommunistJohn Birch Society and report his findings to the FBI.[19]
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At some time in the late 1950s, Kahane assumed the persona of aGentile, along with the pseudonym Michael King.[32] Kahane began openly expressing his anticommunism. He andJoseph Churba created the July Fourth Movement, which was formed to counteract widespread opposition towards U.S. involvement in theVietnam War.[33] Subsequently, they coauthored the bookThe Jewish Stake in Vietnam, an attempt to convince American Jews of the "evil of Communism".[34] 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], and they parted ways permanently. Churba went on to pursue his own career, joining theU.S. Air Force, writing many books on the Middle East, and eventually becoming one ofRonald Reagan's consultants. Kahane chose to fight for Jewish rights, and was willing to use extreme measures. He even attempted to acquire and growbiological weapons to use on a Soviet military installation.[35] He began using the phrase "Never again"[36] and conceived the Jewish Star and fist insignia, a symbol resembling that of theBlack Panther Party. However, Kahane himself opposed the Black Panthers, claiming they had supported anti-Jewish riots inMassachusetts and had left-wing views.
Kahane founded theJewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City in 1968. Its self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations ofanti-Semitism.[37] Kahane encouraged Jews to take up firearms, through his slogan "every Jew a.22".[38]
The JDL said it was committed to five fundamental principles:
Kahane's wife Libby stated that the JDL favored "civil rights forblacks, but opposed black anti-Semites"[39] and Kahane himself stated that the JDL was "not against any race, creed, or color. We are against anyone who is against the Jews."[40] In 1971, the JDL formed an alliance with a black rights group in what Kahane termed "a turning point inBlack-Jewish relations".[41] TheAnti-Defamation League claimed that Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewishnationalism which reflected racism, violence and political extremism"[37] that was replicated byIrv Rubin, the JDL's successor to Kahane.[42]
A number of the JDL's members and leaders, including Kahane, were convicted of acts related todomestic terrorism.[43] In 1971, Kahane was sentenced to a suspended five-year prison sentence and fined $5,000 for conspiring to manufacture explosives.[44] 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 fordisorderly 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 hisprobation for the 1971 bombing conviction and was sentenced to one year in prison.[45] However, he served most of it in a hotel, with frequent unsupervised absences, because of a concession over the provision ofkosher food.[46]
In a 1984 interview withWashington 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".[47][48]
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In September 1971, Kahanemoved to Israel. At the time, he declared that he would focus onJewish education.[49] 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 theIsraeli-occupied territories. In 1972, Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed inHebron, calling for the mayor to stand trial for the1929 Hebron massacre.[50] Kahane was arrested dozens of times by Israeli law enforcement.[51] In 1971, he foundedKach, a political party that ran for theKnesset, the Israeli Parliament, during the1973 general elections under the name "The League List". It won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of theelectoral threshold at the time (1%) for winning a Knesset seat. The party was even less successful in the1977 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 againstPalestinians in response to the killings of Jewish settlers.[52] Kahane was held in prison inRamla, where he wrote the bookThey Must Go. Kahane was banned from entering the UK in 1981.[53]
In 1981, Kahane's party again ran for the Knesset during the1981 elections, but it did not win a seat and received only 5,128 votes. In 1984, theIsraeli Central Elections Committee banned him from being a candidate on the grounds that Kach was a racist party, but theSupreme Court of Israel overturned the ban on the grounds that the committee was not authorized to ban Kahane's candidacy.[54] 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.
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In the1984 legislative elections, Kahane's Kach party received 25,907 votes (1.2%), gaining one seat in the Knesset, which was taken by Kahane.[55] He refused to take the standardoath of office and insisted on adding a Biblical verse fromPsalms to indicate that national laws were overruled by theTorah if they conflict. Kahane's legislative proposals focused on Jewish education, an open economy, transferring the Arab population out of theLand of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banningJewish-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 hisParliamentary 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 "Hellenists," a reference to Jews who assimilated intoGreek culture afterJudea's occupation byAlexander the Great.
In 1987, Kahane opened ayeshiva ("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-classSephardi Jews.[56] Polls showed that Kach would have likely received anywhere from four to twelve seats in the coming November 1988 elections.[57][58]
In 1985, the Knesset passed an amendment to theBasic 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 the1988 legislative elections.[59] 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."[60] The law was criticized as being anti-democratic by the well-known lawyer and professorAlan Dershowitz.[61][non-primary source needed]
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.[62][63] However, in 1987, the Knesset passed a law declaring that a Knesset member could only be an Israeli citizen.[64] 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.[65][66]
In November 1990, Kahane gave a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews fromBrooklyn,[67] in which he warnedAmerican Jews toemigrate to Israel before it was "too late".[67][68] As a crowd gathered around Kahane in the second-floor lecture hall inMidtown Manhattan'sNew York Marriott East Side, Kahane was assassinated[69][70][71] byEl Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen. He was initially charged and acquitted of the murder.[72] Nosair was later convicted of the murder in a U.S. district court for his involvement in the1993 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.[73] He was sentenced to life imprisonment and later made a confession to federal agents.[74]
Kahane was buried onHar HaMenuchot, in Jerusalem. He was eulogized by supporters in both the U.S. and in Israel, including RabbiMoshe 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]
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.[75]
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Kahane argued that there was a glory in Jewish destiny, which came through the observance of theTorah andhalakha (Jewish law). He observed, "Democracy and Judaism are not the same thing."[76] 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?"[77] 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."[78]
Kahane proposed an "exchange of populations" that would continue theJewish 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".[77] 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."[77]
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.[79] 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 northernSinai, includingYamit. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of theJordan River, hence part of what is now Jordan.Eretz Yisrael also includes part of Lebanon and certain parts of Syria, and part of Iraq, all the way to theEuphrates River."[77] 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."[80]
The prosecution argued that Arab MKHaneen 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 theStrong Israel andBalad political parties by using the Kahane precedent were also overturned.[99][100]
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 asMoledet (applying to Arab non-citizen residents of the West Bank) andYisrael Beiteinu (in the form of population exchange).[citation needed] Two small Kahanist factions later emerged; one under the nameKach, and the other under the nameKahane 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 theCentral Elections Committee.[citation needed]
In 1994, following theCave of the Patriarchs massacre that saw Kach supporterBaruch Goldstein indiscriminately kill 29 Palestinian Muslim worshippers inHebron, the Israeli government declared both parties to beterrorist organizations.[101][102] The US State Department also added Kach and Kahane Chai to itslist of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
In the2003 Knesset elections,Herut, which had split off from theNational Union list, ran withMichael Kleiner and former Kach activistBaruch Marzel taking the top two spots on the list. The joint effort narrowly missed the 1.5% barrier. In the following2006 elections, theJewish National Front, led byBaruch 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 the2009 elections on renewedNational Union list. He stood again in the2013 elections as the second candidate on the list ofOtzma 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.[103]
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".[104] 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", atheocracy ruled according to theHalacha. Ettinger's writings condemned Israel's government, mainstream rabbis, and the IDF, and also have denounced Christian churches as "idolatry".[105]
Libby Kahane, his widow, published the first volume of a biographyRabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought Vol. One: 1932–1975 around 2008. A contributor toHaaretz said the book "lacks serious analysis", "ignores important unflattering details" and "serves as an apologetic".[19] 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.[106]
In 2017,The Forward reported that some of Kahane's followers were aligning themselves withwhite nationalists and thealt-right.[107] 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.[108]
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.
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 sadlyJudenrein, will be unlimited.
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.'
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.
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 andSabbath laws.
The JDL favored civil rights for blacks, and opposed only black anti-Semites.
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).
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).
... 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.
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).
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 theLand 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.
As an activist he was an admirer and supporter of Rav Meir Kahane, when very few people were.
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