A quarter of a century after the late Rabbi Meir Kahane and his nationalistic Kach Party were banned from Israel’s parliament, he has returned as a point of debate in the national election picture. When the nation goes to the ballot box on April 9, the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party will be among the parties vying for a share of the parliament’s 120-seats despite its unambiguous genesis as heir to the banned Kach. It’s founder, though, right-wing politician Michael Ben-Ari, will not be on the party list after being banned for what the attorney general, in removing him from the election process, is calling “incitement to racism.” Other members of the party whom critics insist are no less “racist” than Ben-Ari, are being allowed to run. Ben-Ari is seeking a Supreme Court ruling overturning the A-G’s decision. Meir Kahane was a charismatic figure who traveled the world pleading the case for an exclusively Jewish state and encouraging the Israeli government to offer incentives including buyouts to convince the Arab population to move to one of the neighboring Arab nations – with compensation or without “if necessary.” Kahane established his reputation for violence when he was among the founders of the Jewish Defense League in New York – a group that brought a violent response to those who perpetrated violence against Jews. In 1971, he received a five-year suspended sentence for conspiracy to manufacture explosives. After moving to Israel, Kahane’s critics insist he advocated forced re-location and violence to accomplish his goal of an Arab-free state, an argument that resulted in his banishment from parliament. Kahane was assassinated by a Palestinian gunman after delivering a speech in New York in 1990.
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