Meir Kahane

Meir David Kahane (Hebrew: מאיר דוד כהנא, Kahane being a variation on Cohen or "priest"; also known by the pseudonym Michael King) (August 1, 1932–November 5, 1990), was an American Orthodox rabbi, author, political activist, and eventually a member of the Israeli Knesset. On both sides of the Atlantic Kahane was known for his strong political and nationalist views, most apparent in his ideal of a theocratic "Greater Israel" but also evident in his clandestine work with the mafia, FBI, and Mossad. Kahane founded two controversial movements: the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in the United States and the Kach political party in Israel. The latter was declared a racist party by the Israeli government and in 1988 removed from the Knesset, and the former was formally listed as a terrorist organization by both the FBI and the U.S. State Department.

Assassination

While concluding a speech in Manhattan New York, Kahane was murdered by El Sayyid Nosair, a member of an Arab terrorist cell operating in New York in 1990. According to prosecutors, a man named Wadih el Hage purchased the .38 caliber revolver used by Nosair. El-Hage was told by a man named Mahmud Abouhalima to buy the gun. Nosair was acquitted of murder because no witness actually saw him pull the trigger, but he was convicted of gun charges.

Related Topics:
Manhattan - El Sayyid Nosair - Arab - 1990 - Wadih el Hage - Revolver - Mahmud Abouhalima

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Nosair was later convicted as part of the trial of the blind sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. Both of them received life sentences for the World Trade Center bombing and an overall conspiracy to blow up the World Trade Center, several Brooklyn bridges, and to assassinate several politicians. Nosair actually received life plus 15 years of imprisonment.http://www.tkb.org/CaseHome.jsp?caseid=332. Since it was ruled that Kahane's death was part of the total "seditious conspiracy," Nosair was finally convicted of killing Kahane.http://www.cnn.com/US/9510/terror_trial/update/

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