kach

Right-wing activists attend a ceremony honoring late Jewish extremist leader Rabbi Meir Kahane in Jerusalem, Nov. 17, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

How Kahanism found its way into the Israeli political mainstream

Genocidal rhetoric is not new to Israeli politics. But Gaza's destruction mirrors the apocalyptic language pouring out of the Knesset — where the establishment has gradually absorbed members of a former terrorist group.

By Natasha Soffer-Roth May 14, 2025

Rabbi Meir Kahane. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Is Kahane more mainstream than American Jews will admit?

A new biography explores the American roots of Meir Kahane's far-right ideology — and how the U.S. Jewish establishment embraced his beliefs.

By Hadas Binyamini December 30, 2021

Members of the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit party Bentzi Gopstein (left) Michael Ben Ari (center) and Attorney Itamar Ben Gvir (right) seen in Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem, March 12, 2018. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Israel’s fascist sideshow takes center stage

For the first time in over 30 years, a proper Kahanist party could be entering the Knesset. But is the rise of a party that advocates for Jewish supremacy, theocracy, and ‘total war’ as unprecedented as the outcry has suggested? The last week has been an eventful one in the annals of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dalliances with the…

By Natasha Soffer-Roth February 24, 2019

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Members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) beat a 55-year-old Palestinian man outside the AIPAC convention in Washington D.C., March 26, 2017. (Screenshot)

WATCH: Jewish Defense League activists beat Palestinian-American at AIPAC

Wearing shirts and carrying flags bearing insignia of the JDL, once declared a terrorist organization, the violent men and women also attacked left-wing Jewish activists. At least one was arrested. Members of the Jewish Defense League severely beat a 55-year old Palestinian American man and assaulted several American Jewish activists with IfNotNow outside the AIPAC…

By Mairav Zonszein March 29, 2017

A Donald Trump supporter, Jerusalem, November 7, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Trump’s win poses a challenge we must respond to

The nativist rabble-rousing and promises of expulsion and exclusion that carried Donald Trump to victory are worryingly similar to the resurgence of Meir Kahane’s Kach movement in Israel. Neither can be ignored. On the eve of the U.S. presidential elections I stood opposite an alcove in Kraków’s High Synagogue, gazing into an empty socket in which a Torah scroll…

By Natasha Soffer-Roth November 9, 2016

Settler who attacked leftist rabbi: ‘If I kill one it’ll be over’

The young settler charged with attacking Rabbi Arik Ascherman blames human rights advocates for causing tension in the West Bank: ‘If I kill one of them it’ll be over. But that isn’t legal.’ The Jewish extremist accused of attacking Rabbis for Human Rights president Arik Ascherman last month was charged in court two weeks ago with causing grievous…

By Natasha Soffer-Roth November 27, 2015

The word 'revenge' is seen graffitied on the wall of the Dawabshe house, Duma, West Bank, July 31, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israel admits right-wing violence works

The highest court in the land delays the demolition of a synagogue built atop stolen Palestinian property, fearing retribution by right-wing extremists. Has terrorism officially won in Israel? The State of Israel just validated the very concept of “price tag” violence, which Israel officials have often described — but never legally defined — as terrorism. The…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man November 4, 2015

Avigdor Lieberman (photo: Yotam Ronen / activestills)

Coming attraction: Liberman the peacenik

If a militant nationalist wants to get elected prime minister of Israel, he has to repeat the word ‘peace’ over and over. Unlike a lot of other leftists in despair over Liberman’s acquittal on Wednesday, I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion he’s going to succeed Netanyahu as prime minister. I agree that he…

By Larry Derfner November 8, 2013

The tragedy and threat of African refugees in Israel

With at least 60,000 now in the country and 2,000 to 3,000 more coming every month, African refugees, for all the trauma they have been through, are unassimilable in this country. The first in a three-part series. On Friday, with the headlines screaming of Eritreans raping a 15-year-old Israeli girl, I went with a photographer friend to the Hatikva neighborhood in…

By Larry Derfner May 20, 2012

On violence, soccer and occupation – how is Israel different?

End the occupation and the militarism, which are conspicuous in the democratic world today but not in its history, and this could be a pretty cool place. I try not to go out of my way to write good things about Israel, but I also try not to go out of my way not to write…

By Larry Derfner April 22, 2012

Who framed pilot-turned-activist Yonathan Shapira?

“A concerned citizen” and a radical rightwing MK claim to have found in trash bin an air force helmet and some secret documents belonging to Yonatan Shapira, a former IDF pilot and one of the most recognized anti-occupation activists Israeli news site Ynet is running today an exquisitely odd story, seemingly incriminating former Air Force pilot and prolific…

By Dimi Reider July 12, 2011

Glenn Beck meets former chair of terror organization

One of the visitors on the Knesset’s Committee discussion that hosted Glen Beck today was a settler named Baruch Marzel. Marzel, seen below meeting Beck, was the secretary of Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Kach movement. After the assassination of Kahane, Marzel, a resident of Hebron, chaired the party. Kach and Kahane Chai (a faction of the…

By Noam Sheizaf July 11, 2011