The simmering tensions between Israel's political factions became palpable after the murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Citizens were shocked to discover that his assassin was not a PLO supporter but a fellow Israeli Jew - Yigal Amir, a member of the violence-prone group Eyal (a.k.a. the Jewish Fighting Organization).

According to Israeli media and security forces, violent Jewish extremism is a serious problem in the Middle East. Kach and Kahane Chai are perhaps two of the best-known Israeli groups who use terrorist tactics to promote their agenda, but their amorphous membership links them to a number of smaller groups, including Eyal. Kach and Kahane Chai stemmed from the anti-Arab teachings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, who founded and led Kach until his assassination in 1990. The groups espouse a restoration of the biblical land of Israel, along with the expulsion of all Palestinian settlers. After being outlawed by the Israeli government in 1994, the groups have generally kept a low profile - according to some experts, Kahanists hope for a reversal of the ban. While the leaders have shied away from claiming responsibility for any recent attacks, supporters and offshoot groups have continued disorganized, small-scale attacks on individual Palestinians in the West Bank, using guns, knives and grenades as weapons.

In 1993, the groups claimed responsibility for several attacks in the West Bank, in which four Palestinians were killed and two wounded. The deadliest attack came in February 1994 on the heels of the Oslo peace accords. Baruch Goldstein, a Brooklyn-born doctor and a Kach supporter, entered the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and began firing a machine gun, killing 29 people. The Israeli cabinet's decision to outlaw the Jewish extremist organizations came after the groups' leaders made a statement in support of Goldstein, calling him a "hero."

Kahane, a Brooklyn-born lawyer, scorned the image of Jews as weak and vulnerable, seeking to transform them into "mighty fighters who strike back fiercely against tyrants." After founding the Jewish Defense League in 1968, he moved to Israel and began the militant Kach movement, preaching "terror against terror." Kahane sought a political platform for his views, unsuccessfully running for the Knesset in 1976 and 1980 before finally succeeding in 1984. His movement continued to gain support, but in 1985 Israeli laws were amended to disqualify parties that oppose democracy and incite racism. Despite his vigorous judicial protests, Kahane was banned from participating in the 1988 elections. In 1990 he was assassinated by an Egyptian Islamist while speaking to a group of followers in a New York hotel.

After his death, Kahane's teachings gained him acolytes in Israel and around the world. His son Binyamin Kahane took up the cause, forming the offshoot group Kahane Chai (Hebrew for "Kahane Lives"), while Baruch Marzel headed the Kach movement. The groups have an overlapping membership of several dozen core members, as well as an unknown number of unaffiliated followers and supporters. Kahane Chai is based in the Tapuah settlement, while Kach operates in Qiryat Arba in Hebron. In 2001, Binyamin Kahane and his wife were killed by Arab extremists as they drove through the West Bank. The assassins were apparently targeting random vehicles, and attributed Benyamin Kahane's murder to "luck".

Jewish Defense League spokesman Brett Stone told CDI that he does not consider either group a "terrorist" gang, but rather organizations that carry out defensive actions of prevention against Arab aggression. Stating that the situation in the Middle East is very difficult to put into context outside of the region, especially by Americans, Stone suggested that Goldstein "saved lives" by taking preventive action that Israeli officials were unwilling to undertake. He also stated he does not believe in terror "under any circumstances" and hopes for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. A few more Palestinian attacks, said Stone, will hopefully lead to a shift in public opinion and the restoration of Kach/Kahane Chai to their former legal status.

Meanwhile, the groups continue to draw supporters from within Israel and around the world. In September 1999, an Israeli court convicted the leader of Noar Meir, a Kahanist youth group accused of sedition. Uri Amir, the group's leader, distributed fliers endorsing the murder of Arabs, praising Rabin's assassination, and encouraging people to contribute to the "Baruch Goldstein Fund." In April 2002, a former Kach spokesman was arrested in connection with the attempted bombing of a Palestinian school and hospital in Jerusalem, but was found to have ties with another extremist group unaffiliated with Kach or Kahane Chai.

Sources

""Kach and Kahane Chai," The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

David Shyovitz, "Rabbi Meyer Kahane," The Jewish Virtual Library.

"Kach, Kahane Chai," Terrorism Questions and Answers, Council on Foreign Relations.

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