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Kahanism

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Symbol of the Kach party

Kahanism (Hebrew: כהניזם) is a religious Zionist ideology based on the views of Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defence League and Kach and Kahane Chai. Kahane argued most Palestinians, especially Arabs of Israeli citizenship are enemies of Jews and Israel itself, and believed that a Jewish theocratic state, where non-Jews have no voting rights, should be created.

Kach, Kahane Chai has been banned by Israel and United States. In 2004, the U.S. State Department designated it a FTO. In 2022, it was removed from the U.S. terror blacklist due to "insufficient evidence" of the group's ongoing activity, but it remains a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity.

Today, Kahanism has influenced the modern Israeli government and the opposition perhaps.[1]

Portrait of [Meir] Kahane, eponym of Kahanism.

Kach saw electoral success in 1984, winning 26,000 votes, equivalent to one seat.[2] Early polls after the election predicted that the Kach party would become the third-largest party, winning as many as 12 seats in the next election.[3][4] In August 1985, Kach was barred from participating in elections.[2] Some Kahanist groups, such as the Sicarii began pursuing their political goals through violent means instead. On November 5, 1990, Kahane was assassinated by El-Sayyid A. Nosair, who was associated with precursor cells to Al-Qaeda.[5]

Kahane's assassination led to the splintering of the Kach party into Kach and Kahane Chai, which were led by Baruch Marzel, righthand man of Kahane and Benjamin Ze'ev Kahane, son of Meir Kahane.[6] In 1992 both groups were banned completely from participating in elections. In 1994, due to the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre committed by Baruch Goldstein, they were declared illegal terrorist organizations by the Israeli government.[7][8][9] After the ban, Kahane Chai's leaders created an extra-parliamentary advocacy group, "The Kahane Movement", which archived media content from Kahane online.[9]

Another election where Kahanists received political representation was in 2009, with Michael Ben-Ari, who ran on the National Union's ticket. Later on, Ben-Ari and Aryeh Eldad co founded an offshoot of the Jewish National Front called “Otzma Yehudit”. The far-right Israeli Party “Jewish Power” failed to pass the electoral threshold in 2013.[10]

Kahanism gained no political legitimacy until the April 2019 Israeli election. As a result of the 2018–2022 Israeli political crisis, Prime Minister Ben Netanyahu attempted to avoid his arrest warrant and wasting right-wing votes by drafting a coalition of the Religious Zionist Party, Otzma Yehudit and Jewish Home.[11] The party received enough seats for Otzma Yehudit to be represented, though Ben Ari, who was supposed to represent the fifth slot on the Union of Right-Wing Parties list was barred from running after the list was submitted.[12] Otzma Yehudit eventually achieved parliamentary representation in 2021, when Ben-Gvir, leader of Otzma Yehudit, won a seat as part of a joint list with the RZP.[13]

The “Religious Zionist Bloc”, composed of Otzma, the Religious Zionist Party (RZP) and Noam each won six, seven and one seat respectively, winning a total of fourteen seats in the Knesset, forming the "most right-wing government in Israel’s history", which includes Netanyahu as Prime Minister, Ben-Gvir, chairman of Otzma Yehudit as Security Minister, Smotrich, chairman of Religious Zionist Party (RZP) as Finance Minister and Eliyahu, supporter of Otzma Yehudit as Heritage minister.[14][15] In November 2022, after a memorial event for Kahane attended by the Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the U.S. State Department hosted a press briefing, saying, "Celebrating the legacy of a terrorist organization is abhorrent. There is no other word for it. It is abhorrent."[16] Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionist Party (RZP) and Noam left the Government temporarily on 21 January 2025 because the government had agreed to a ceasefire during the Gaza-based war.[17] That ceasefire collapsed on 18 March, and the party rejoined the government the next day.[18]

Ideology

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Kahanism is a form of revisionist Zionism incorporating Hasidic and Haredi elements that denotes the controversial positions espoused by the Kahane family. Kahane proposed that Israel should enforce Jewish rabbinical law, as codified by Maimonides,[source?] under which non-Jews who wish to dwell in Israel would have three options: remain as "resident strangers" with all rights but national ones, which would require non-Jews to accept resident-stranger status with all rights but political ones. Those unwilling to accept such a status will be required to leave the country with full compensation and those who refuse to do even that will be forcibly removed.[19]

Kahanism's central claim is that the vast majority of Arabs in modern-day Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt are and will continue to be enemies of Jews, or Zionism itself, and that they must be exiled or stripped off their rights, in order to pave way for a "homogenous" Jewish state.[20]

Allegations of fascism

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Kahanism has been controversially been described as a form of neo-fascism. News outlets and organizations such as Haaretz, the Institute for Middle East Understanding, and +972 Magazine[21][22][23] have called it explicitly fascist. Kahanism's ideological tenets of violent expansionism, extreme racism, and ultranationalist messaging have been cited as proof that it is a form of Jewish fascism. Israeli scholar Ehud Sprinzak [he] has described Kahanism as "quasi-fascism" due to its overt racism.[24] Kahane's appeal that the "enemy is within" has been called a "classic position of fascists".[25]

Kahane denied these allegations throughout this life, instead calling his opponents "leftists" and "fascists".[26] He likened his struggle for an ethnically pure Israel to the Jewish people's struggle against fascist powers during the Holocaust.[27] Some doubt the label's accuracy; historian Matthew N. Lyons argues that Kahanism's religious fundamentalism could be more accurately described as "religious nationalism".[28]

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Since 1985, the Israeli government has outlawed Kahanist parties as racist, and forbids their participation in the government. Kach was banned from running for the Knesset in 1988, while the two Kahanist movements formed after Kahane's assassination in 1990[29] were ruled illegal terrorist organizations in 1994 and the groups subsequently disbanded. Followers with militant Kahanist beliefs remain active, as listed below. In 2001, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called the official Kahanist website a hate site, saying it espoused prejudiced views in which "Arabs generally and Palestinians, in particular, are vilified".

U.S. designation

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The United States added Kahane Chai, a Kach splinter to its Foreign Terrorist Organizations list in 1997.[30]

In 2004, the U.S. State Department designated Kach a Foreign Terrorist Organization.[31][32] In 2022, it was removed from the U.S. terror blacklist due to "insufficient evidence" of the group's ongoing activity in the most recent five-yearly review, but it remains a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity.[33]

Canadian designation

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The Canadian government has listed Kach, Kahane Chai as a terror entity since 2005.[34]

In February 2025, Eli Schwarz, a self-confessed member of Kach and Kahane Chai, was arrested and charged with making threats at a demonstration in Toronto. Police seized clothing branded with the Kach, Kahane Chai name and crest, a soft-body armour vest, a rifle, a scope, and ammunition from his residence.[35]

List of Kachnik organizations

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Name Country Description Status
Kach and Kahane Chai Israel, the United States style="background: #FFE3E3; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Defunct
Jewish Defense League Global Militant activist organization, founded by Kahane|style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Active
Terror Against Terror Israel style="background: #FFE3E3; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Defunct
Sicarii Israel style="background: #FFE3E3; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Defunct
Lehava Israel style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Active
Jewish Task Force USA style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Active
Otzma Yehudit Israel style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Active
Jewish National Front Israel style="background: #FFE3E3; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Defunct
Hatikva Israel style="background: #FFE3E3; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Defunct

Non-Jewish support

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James David Manning, Pastor of ATLAH World Missionary Church has endorsed aspects of Kahanism.

References

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  1. ↑ "Yosef Dayan - Friends of the Sanhedrin". www.thesanhedrin.net. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  2. 1 2 "Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs". www.mfa.gov.il. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  3. ↑ "12 Years Since the Assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane". Arutz Sheva. 23 October 2002. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  4. ↑ Lustick, Ian S. (2019). "The Red Thread of Israel's "Demographic Problem"". Middle East Policy. 26 (1): 144. doi:10.1111/mepo.12406. ISSN 1475-4967. In 1985, The New York Times described Kahane as the most talked about politician in Israel. At one point that year, polls showed his party winning up to 12 seats if new elections were held.
  5. ↑ "I Grew Up the Son of an Islamic Jihadist". Time. Archived from the original on 2021-01-07. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  6. ↑ Auerbach, Jerold S. (2009). Hebron Jews: Memory and Conflict in the Land of Israel. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-7425-6617-0.
  7. ↑ "Terrorism – In the Spotlight: Kach and Kahane Chai". 2006-11-22. Archived from the original on 2006-11-22. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  8. ↑ "U.S. Treasury – Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI)". 2010-02-03. Archived from the original on 2010-02-03. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  9. 1 2 "Why Racist Rabbi Meir Kahane Is Roiling Israeli Politics 30 Years After His Death". Haaretz. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  10. ↑ "Otzma Yehudit". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  11. ↑ Gur, Haviv Rettig. "Kahane lives? What does Itamar Ben Gvir, backed by Netanyahu, really stand for?". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  12. ↑ T. O. I. Staff (17 March 2019). "High Court bars far-right party leader Ben Ari from running in elections". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  13. ↑ Sauvage, Grégoire (15 May 2021). "Itamar Ben Gvir, the ultra-nationalist accused of stirring up violence in Jerusalem". France 24.
  14. ↑ Staff, ToI (2022-11-25). "Ben Gvir to get newly created role of national security minister in deal with Likud". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2025-10-25. The Negev and Galilee Ministry will be headed up by Otzma Yehudit No. 2 Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Amihai Eliyahu will take on the Heritage Ministry portfolio. ... ... ... MK Almog Cohen will be Deputy Economy Minister and former IDF general Zvika Fogel will chair the Public Security Committee. MK Limor Son Har-Melech will take Otzma Yehudit's position on the gas royalties committee. The Negev and Galilee Ministry will receive an annual budget of NIS 2 billion (some $580 million) and will also be responsible for carrying out the regulation of new West Bank settlements. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 384 (help)
  15. ↑ "Israel moves sharply to right as Netanyahu forms new coalition". BBC. 21 December 2022.
  16. ↑ Magid, Jacob. "US blasts 'abhorrent' celebration of Kahane after prospective minister attends". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  17. ↑ Sokol, Sam (19 January 2025). "Otzma Yehudit exits coalition over Gaza deal, blasting it as 'victory for terrorism'". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  18. ↑ Estrin, Daniel (2025-03-19). "Why did Israel resume the war in Gaza?". NPR. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  19. ↑ Kahane, Meir (1987). Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews. L. Stuart. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-8184-0438-2. All Arabs who are prepared to accept the State of Israel as the exclusive state of the Jewish people and of no one else, will be allowed to remain in the land with the status of 'resident stranger,' as per Jewish laws. They will be granted personal rights but no national ones. They will have general economic, social, cultural, and religious freedom but will not be citizens of the Jewish State and will have nothing to say in its future in any way. Accepting this status, they are welcome to remain and are entitled to all the respect and decency that Judaism demands we grant to all humans who are resident strangers in our land and who bow to its laws and concepts.
  20. ↑ "God's Law: an Interview with Rabbi Meir Kahane". Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved 2012-12-18.: "The southern boundary goes up to El Arish, which takes in all of northern Sinai, including Yamit. To the east, the frontier runs along the western part of the East Bank of the Jordan 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 the Tigris river."
  21. ↑ Roth-Rowland, Natasha (2019-02-24). "Israel's fascist sideshow takes center stage". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  22. ↑ IMEU. "Fact Sheet: Meir Kahane & The Extremist Kahanist Movement | IMEU". imeu.org. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  23. ↑ "It's Official Now: Fascism Is Us". Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  24. ↑ Sprinzak, Ehud (July 1985). "Kach and Meir Kahane: The Emergence of Jewish Quasi-Fascism I: Origins and Development". Patterns of Prejudice. 19 (3): 15–21. doi:10.1080/0031322X.1985.9969820.
  25. ↑ Heschel, Susannah (June 2022). "Meir Kahane and Race as Incarnational Theology". Journal of Religious Ethics. 50 (2): 293–302. doi:10.1111/jore.12398.
  26. ↑ Hall, Carla (11 September 1984). "The Message of Meir Kahane". Washington Post.
  27. ↑ Quevillon, Timothy Riggio (May 2020). From Palestine to Howard Beach and Houston: Meir Kahane, Moshe Cahana, and the Anti-Colonialism of American Civil Rights Struggles (Thesis).[page needed]
  28. ↑ Lyons, Matthew N. (July 2008). "Two Ways of Looking at Fascism". Socialism and Democracy. 22 (2): 121–156. doi:10.1080/08854300802083331.
  29. ↑ Murphy, Dean E. (19 December 2000). "Terror Label No Hindrance To Anti-Arab Jewish Group". The New York Times.
  30. ↑ Al Jazeera Staff. "US removes ultranationalist Israeli group from 'terror' list". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
  31. ↑ "U.S. Dept. of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2004. April 2005" (PDF).
  32. ↑ "Country Reports on Terrorism 2004" (PDF). State.gov.
  33. ↑ "US set to remove Kahane's 'Kach' group from foreign terrorism blacklist". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909.
  34. ↑ "Currently listed entities". Publicsafety Canada. 2018-12-21. Archived from the original on 2025-03-06. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
  35. ↑ "Man charged after claiming to be member of terrorist group: Toronto police". TorontoToday.ca. 2025-02-04. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
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