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Andy Blumenthal
Leadership With Heart

Kahane Was Right About at Least One Thing

(Source Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Kahane#/media/File:Meir_Kahane,_seated_(3x4_cropped).jpg)

Thirty-five years after the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane, the mere mention of his name riles people up. But fifteen months after Hamas’s brutal invasion of Israel, it is clear that we face the same problem as during his lifetime. Hamas continues to regroup, its armed militants reclaiming control of Gaza and vowing to persist in their genocidal aim of eliminating Jews “from the river to the sea.” On the day when a few precious hostages were released, we are compelled to reexamine some of his key ideas.

The world first came to know Rabbi Kahane, a prominent figure during my youth, as the founder of the Jewish Defense League (JDL). He forcefully advocated for Jewish strength and defense in the face of violent antisemitism. Later, as a Knesset member, he continued championing Jewish faith, strength, independence, and sovereignty over the Land of Israel. For his views, he was labeled a supremacist, his Kach party was banned in 1985, and he was tragically assassinated in 1990 by an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen later convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

While all of us denounce any expressions of racism or incitement to violence, he was correct that lasting peace for Israel necessitates that we should be unapologetically Jewish and support its identity as a distinctly Jewish state. In The Ideology of Kach, Kahane articulated a stark principle (paraphrased):

For two peoples, both claiming title, ownership, and sovereignty over a single land, to live together without violence and bloodshed is to fly in the face of reality.

Unlike others who advocated for the right of anti-Zionists to be in Israel and even in the Knesset, Kahane argued the common-sense point that those who refuse to recognize the Land of Israel as belonging to the Jewish people would ultimately need to leave. In this context, we should recall the expulsion of over 800,000 Jews from Arab countries after 1948—a tragedy met with deafening global silence. Even with 57 Muslim-majority nations existing alongside the single Jewish state of Israel, the world still struggles to accept this fundamental reality.

While many of us feel compassion for our fellow human beings, including Palestinians, that does not mean we need to commit national suicide by letting them flood the country with hate, terror, and “resistance.” Accordingly, this forces a difficult, but stubborn question: Does history, particularly October 7, not validate Kahane’s assertion that two distinct sovereign peoples cannot realistically share one territory (especially given the global prevalence of inter-group conflict even when separate lands exist)?

The democratic ideal of a harmonious “melting pot” does not fit Israel’s circumstances. In this region, we are dealing with deeply ingrained religious beliefs and cultural convictions of multiple groups who claim exclusive rights to the same land. As far as the Jewish people are concerned, Kahane’s vision of a Jewish state is directly taken from Deuteronomy 7:16.

And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

Of course, given the political and humane realities, Israel has always sought coexistence and peace. Israel has repeatedly pursued a two-state solution, from the 1947 UN Partition Plan to the 1967 Green Line and the Oslo and Camp David Peace Accords. Each attempt at peaceful coexistence has ultimately collapsed into further violence. In short, then we must consider that:

If Arabs can live peacefully within Israel, that is to be welcomed. But if they remain committed to Israel’s destruction, then those who refuse compromise must seek another home.

While the pursuit of peace must never cease, a pragmatic mindset considers all logical approaches. This should include the concept of a distinctly Jewish state, which cannot be democratically ruled out of existence. As former Prime Minister Golda Meir (of blessed memory) so powerfully stated in alignment with Kahane’s ideology:

They say we must be dead. And we say we want to be alive. Between life and death, I don’t know of a compromise. And that’s why we have no choice.

About the Author
Andy Blumenthal is a dynamic, award-winning leader who writes frequently about Jewish life, culture, and security. All opinions are his own.
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