Meir David HaKohen Kahane ( ; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi, writer, and politician. He was the founder of the Israeli political party Kach, which promoted an ultra-nationalist ideology that continues to influence some militant and far-right political groups active today in Israel. Kahane was convicted in the United States and Israel for offenses related to terrorism.
Born in 1932 in Brooklyn, 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 from New York University. In 1968, he founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City, whose self-described purpose was to fight antisemitism. 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 the Israeli-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 against Palestinians. Kahane was held in prison in Ramla, where he wrote the book They Must Go. In the 1984 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, urging American Jews to emigrate to Israel, when he was assassinated by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-American national. Kahane was buried in West Jerusalem.
During his lifetime Kahane publicized his Kahanism ideology throughout the United States. In Israel, he proposed enforcing halakha (Jewish law) as codified by Maimonides and hoped that Israel would eventually adopt it as state law. 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, forbid marriages between Jews and non-Jews, separate Jewish and Arab neighborhoods, and end cultural meetings between Jewish and Arab students.Brinkley, Joel. "Israel Bans Kahane Party From Election" , The New York Times, October 6, 1988. He went so far as to demand that non-Jews in Israel could not be elected, would not be allowed to live in the city of Jerusalem, and must assume specific taxes and duties or face deportation. He also popularized the slogan "For Every Jew a .22 rifle." He advocated that Jews must be "forbidden to give up any part of the Land of Israel, which has been liberated" and endorsed the annexation of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Personal life Meir Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Orthodox Jewish family. Kahane was a member of an established rabbinic family, including his father, who was head of the Flatbush Board of Rabbis. His father, Yechezkel Shragei (Charles) Kahane (1905–1978), was the rabbi of a large synagogue in Brooklyn, author of the interpretive Torah translation Torah Yesharah, and a strong supporter of the Revisionist Zionist movement.Yosef Lindell, When Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Father Translated the Torah Kahane's grandfather was Nachman Kahane (1869–1937), a leading rabbinic scholar in Safed, who was the son of Baruch David Kahane (1850–1925), the author of Hibat ha-Eretz, and a disciple of Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. Baruch David immigrated to Ottoman Palestine from Poland in 1873. Kahane's father was born in Safed while his mother Sonia was born in Latvia. An uncle of Kahane's was killed in Safed during the 1929 Palestine riots.Shaul Magid, 'Kahane Won:How the radical rabbi’s ideas and disciples took over Israeli politics, and why it’s dangerous,' Tablet March 15, 2019
As a teenager, Kahane became an ardent admirer of Eri Jabotinsky and Peter Bergson, who were frequent guests in his parents' home. He joined the Betar (Brit Trumpeldor) youth wing of Revisionist Zionism. He was active in protests against Ernest Bevin, the British Foreign Secretary who maintained restrictions on the emigration of Jews, even Holocaust survivors, to Palestine after the end of the Second 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 the New York Daily News.Friedman, Robert I. The false prophet – Rabbi Meir Kahane – from FBI informant to Knesset member, New York, 1990, p.9. In 1954, he became the Mazkir (Secretary) of Greater New York City's 16 Bnei Akiva chapters.
Kahane's formal education included Yeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school and Brooklyn Talmudical Academy for high school.also see talk:Meir Kahane#High school stunt Kahane received his rabbinical ordination from the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he was especially admired by the head Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz. He was fully conversant in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), the Talmud, the Midrash and Jewish law. Subsequently, Kahane earned a B.A. in political science from Brooklyn College in 1954, a Bachelor of Law – LL.B. from New York Law School, and an M.A. in International Relations from New York University.Libby Kahane, "Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought" vol. 2, chap 6, note 3 p. 577.
In 1956, Kahane married Libby Blum, with whom he had four children: Tzipporah, Tova, Baruch, and Binyamin. 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). 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. Upon receiving the letter, D'Argenio jumped off the Queensboro Bridge and died of her injuries the next day. In 2008, Kahane's wife dismissed the incident as lacking proof.
After D'Argenio's death, Kahane started the Estelle Donna Evans Foundation in her name. 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. In reality, the money was used to fund the JDL, including supplies for bombings and Kahane's lavish travel.
Early career Pulpit rabbi
In 1958, Kahane became the rabbi of the Howard Beach Jewish Center in Queens, New York City. Although the synagogue was originally Conservative, rather than strictly Orthodox, the board of directors agreed to Kahane's conditions, which included resigning from the Conservative movement's United Synagogue of America, installing a partition separating men and women during prayer, instituting traditional prayers, and maintaining a kosher kitchen. At the Jewish Center, Kahane influenced many of the synagogue's youngsters to adopt a more observant lifestyle, which often troubled parents."Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought", pp. 48, 49. He trained Arlo Guthrie for his bar mitzvah. 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 in The Jewish Press, an American Orthodox Jewish weekly for which he would continue to write for the rest of his life.Rakeffet-Rothkoff, Aaron. Review of Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought He also served as an assistant rabbi in the Young Israel of Laurelton, and as rabbi of the Rochdale Village Jewish Center., Jewish Action. Kahane also used the pen name David Sinai, and the pseudonyms Michael King, David Borac, and Martin Keene.
Infiltrating the John Birch Society In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Kahane's life of secrecy and his strong anticommunism landed him a position as a consultant with the FBI. According to his wife, Libby, his assignment was to infiltrate the anticommunist John Birch Society and report his findings to the FBI.
Collaboration with Joseph Churba
At some time in the late 1950s, Kahane assumed the persona of a Gentile, along with the pseudonym Michael King. Kahane began openly expressing his anticommunism. He and Joseph Churba created the July Fourth Movement, which was formed to counteract widespread opposition towards U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Subsequently, they coauthored the book The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, an attempt to convince American Jews of the "evil of Communism". 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, and they parted ways permanently. Churba went on to pursue his own career, joining the U.S. Air Force, writing many books on the Middle East, and eventually becoming one of Ronald Reagan's consultants. Kahane chose to fight for Jewish rights, and was willing to use extreme measures. He even attempted to acquire and grow biological weapons to use on a Soviet military installation. He began using the phrase "Never again" and conceived the Jewish Star and fist insignia, a symbol resembling that of the Black Panther Party. However, Kahane himself opposed the Black Panthers, claiming they had supported anti-Jewish riots in Massachusetts and had left-wing views.
Jewish Defense League Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in New York City in 1968. Its self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of antisemitism. Kahane encouraged Jews to take up firearms, through his slogan "every Jew a .22".Burack, Emily (October 16, 2021) "How Some of Extremist Rabbi, Onetime MK Kahane's Ideas Entered Jewish Mainstream" , The Times of Israel. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
Kahane's wife Libby stated that the JDL favored "civil rights for blacks, but opposed black antisemites" and Kahane himself stated that the JDL was "not against any race, creed, or color. We are against anyone who is against the Jews."Shaul Magid, Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical (2021) In 1971, the JDL formed an alliance with a black rights group in what Kahane termed "a turning point in Black–Jewish relations". The Anti-Defamation League claimed that Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence and political extremism" that was replicated by Irv Rubin, the JDL's successor to Kahane.
Terrorism and convictions