Kach

Kach and Kahane Chai are radical Jewish organizations. They have been declared illegal by Israeli authorities for supporting acts of terrorism against the Israeli-Arab minority, and Israel's government. According to the United States State Department, their activities include:

Organize protests against the Israeli Government. Harass and threaten Palestinians in Hebron and the West Bank. Have threatened to attack Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli Government officials. Have vowed revenge for the death of Binyamin Kahane and his wife. [1] (http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/kach.htm)

Initially, Kach was led by Meir Kahane. The party participated in the 1983 elections, where the right-wing votes helped it win several places in the Knesset (Israeli parliament). However, as they were elected, the Knesset voted for changing Israel's basic law[?] (which has a constitutional status), in a way that would forbid racist movements from balloting in elections to the Knesset. Kahane appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, but it supported the law and he was forced out of the Knesset.

Following Kahane's assassination in 1990, the movement split into two overlapping groups: "Kach" and "Kahane Chai" ("Kahane Lives"). Kahane Chai was led by Meir's son Binyamin until he was murdered in 2000. Both were outlawed by Israel in 1994 under anti-terrorism laws following statements in support of Baruch Goldstein's massacre of Arabs at the Cave of the Patriarchs. They still retain several hundred hard-core supporters, including support from individuals in the United States and Europe.

External link

• The Kahane website (http://www.kahane.org)
• The New Kach Movement (http://www.newkach.org/)
• Terrorist Group Profiles: Kach and Kahane Chai (http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/kach.htm) (from the United States State Department)
• International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism: Kach and Kahane Chai (http://www.ict.org.il/inter_ter/orgdet.cfm?orgid=19)

See also

• Jewish Defense League
• Kahanism