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.

Early life

Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1932. He came from a family that adhered to Orthodox Judaism. His father, Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Kahane, was born in Safed, Israel in 1905 and studied in yeshivot in Poland and Czechoslovakia. Later he emigrated to America, where he served as rabbi of two congregations. Meir Kahane received rabbinical ordination from the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn. He was fully conversant with the Talmud and Tanakh, and worked as a pulpit rabbi and teacher in the 1960s. Subsequently, he earned a degree in international law from New York University.

Related Topics:
Brooklyn, New York - 1932 - Orthodox Judaism - Safed - Israel - 1905 - Yeshivot - Poland - Czechoslovakia - Rabbinical ordination - Mir yeshiva - Talmud - Tanakh - International law - New York University

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As a teenager he became an admirer of Zeev Jabotinsky, who was a frequent guest in his parents' home, and joined the youth wing of Revisionist Zionism called Betar. He personally led protests against Ernest Bevin the British Foreign Secretary who opposed the foundation of Israel on the grounds that Britain should side with the Arab Muslims aspirations for an independent state. Kahane also organized and launched public demonstrations in the US against the Soviet Union's policy of persecuting Zionist activists and curbing Jewish immigration to Israel. He was a central activist in the "Free Soviet (Russian) Jewry" movement and is widely credited with the release and subsequent return of the Russian refuseniks to Israel.

Related Topics:
Zeev Jabotinsky - Revisionist Zionism - Betar - Ernest Bevin - Foreign Secretary - Soviet Union - Refusenik

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During the 1960s, Kahane joined the FBI and worked undercover in COINTELPRO against anti-Vietnam war movements. He presented himself as Michael King, a Presbyterian journalist .

Related Topics:
1960s - FBI - COINTELPRO - Vietnam war - Presbyterian

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Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in 1968, purportedly in response to threats made by the Black Panthers movement of the 1960s.

Related Topics:
Jewish Defense League - 1968 - Black Panthers

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Kahane was also in contact with Joe Colombo, head of the Colombo mafia family, and was with him in 1971 when Colombo was shot dead by the Gallo family. Kahane confirmed his connections in an interview he gave to Playboy magazine in 1972.

Related Topics:
Joe Colombo - Mafia - 1971 - Playboy magazine - 1972

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In the 1960s Kahane was an editor of the largest Anglo-Jewish weekly, Brooklyn's The Jewish Press and was a regular correspondent for that paper until his death. He appeared often on American radio and television.

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