Explainer: Kahanism, far-right ideology linked to Netanyahu’s election win
Religious Zionism politician Itamar Ben Gvir has been linked to the late American-Israeli firebrand Meir Kahane, who called for the expulsion of Arabs from Israel.
With most of the votes counted, it appears former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon return to power in Israel. Netanyahu’s Likud was in first place with 32 seats after more than 87% of the ballots were counted from this week’s election, followed by current Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid and Religious Zionism
The right-wing Jewish nationalist party Otzma Yehudit, aka Jewish Power, recently joined Religious Zionism. Jewish Power and its leader Itamar Ben Gvir are expected to serve in Netanyahu’s government. Gvir specifically wants the public security minister position that oversees the police, according to Israeli reports.
Ben Gvir, a lawyer, used to defend radical right-wing Jews in court, and has himself been indicted for inciting violence. He and Jewish Power are sometimes linked to the ideology of Kahanism, named after late American-Israeli Rabbi Meir Kahane. Kahanism has long been polarizing in Israel for its views on Arabs and Palestinians and the corresponding Kach party is outlawed. So what is Kahanism and what do its adherents believe?
Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, into an Orthodox Jewish family. He became a rabbi and was a proponent of Zionism from a young age. In 1968, he founded the Jewish Defense League, which to this day serves to protect Jews against antisemitism. The organization was known for criticizing the Soviet Union’s restrictions on Jewish emigration in its early days, but was later associated with violence, such as a 2001 plot to bomb the office of Palestinian-American Congressman Darrell Issa.
