Kach (political party)
Kach (Hebrew: כך, lit. 'Thus') was a radical Orthodox Jewish, religious Zionist political party in Israel, existing from 1971 to 1994.[1] Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1971, based on his Jewish-Orthodox-nationalist ideology (subsequently dubbed Kahanism), the party earned a single seat in the Knesset in the 1984 election, after several electoral failures.[4] However, it was barred from participating in the next election in 1988 under the revised Knesset Elections Law banning parties that incited racism. After Kahane's assassination in 1990, the party split, with Kahane Chai (כהנא חי, "Kahane Lives") breaking away from the main Kach faction.
Kach כך
The party was ultimately also barred from standing in the 1992 election, and both organisations were banned outright in 1994 by the Israeli cabinet under 1948 anti-terrorism laws,[5] following statements in support of Baruch Goldstein's massacre of 29 Palestinians at the Cave of the Patriarchs (Goldstein himself was a Kach supporter).[6]
Both groups are designated as terrorist organisations by Israel,[7] Canada,[8] Japan,[9] and formerly the European Union,[10][11][12] as well as the United States.[13][14] They are believed to have an overlapping core membership of fewer than 100 people,[15][16] with links to the modern party Otzma Yehudit.[17][18]
Background
Early history
Kahane immigrated to Israel from the United States in September 1971, at first declaring that he would only involve himself in Jewish education.[19] However, he soon became involved in controversy, initiating protests advocating the expulsion of most Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian territories. In 1972, Jewish Defense League leaflets were distributed around Hebron, calling for the mayor to stand trial for the 1929 Hebron massacre.[20]
In 1971, Kahane founded a new party,[21] which ran in the 1973 elections under the name "The League List".[22] The party won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the electoral threshold at the time (1%) for winning a seat. Following the elections, the party's name was changed to Kach, taken from the Irgun motto "Rak Kach" ("Only thus").[23] The party was less successful in the 1977 elections, in which it won 4,396 votes (0.25%), and in 1980 Kahane was sentenced to six months in prison for his involvement in a plan to commit an "act of provocation" on the Temple Mount.[20] The 1981 elections were another failure, with Kach receiving only 5,128 votes (0.27%).