Kach (political party)
Kach (Hebrew: כך, lit. 'Thus') was a radical Orthodox Jewish, religious Zionist political party in Israel, existing from 1971 to 1994. Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1971, based on his Jewish-Orthodox-nationalist ideology (subsequently dubbed Kahanism), the party earned a single seat in the Knesset in the 1984 election, after several electoral failures. However, it was barred from participating in the next election in 1988 under the revised Knesset Elections Law banning parties that incited racism. After Kahane's assassination in 1990, the party split, with Kahane Chai (כהנא חי, "Kahane Lives") breaking away from the main Kach faction.
Kach כך | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Meir Kahane |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Banned | 13 March 1994 |
| Headquarters | Jerusalem |
| Paramilitary wing | Jewish Defense League |
| Ideology | Religious Zionism Halachic state Kahanism Religious conservatism Population transfer Economic liberalism Anti-communism Anti-Arabism Anti-Islam Ultranationalism Greater Israel |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Religion | Orthodox Judaism (mainly Hardal) |
| International affiliation | None |
| Colors | Gold |
| Most MKs | 1 (1984) |
| Election symbol | |
| כך | |
| Party flag | |
| |
The party was ultimately also barred from standing in the 1992 election, and both organisations were banned outright in 1994 by the Israeli cabinet under 1948 anti-terrorism laws, following statements in support of Baruch Goldstein's massacre of 29 Palestinians at the Cave of the Patriarchs (Goldstein himself was a Kach supporter).
Both groups are designated as terrorist organisations by Israel, Canada, Japan, and formerly the European Union, as well as the United States. They are believed to have an overlapping core membership of fewer than 100 people, with links to the modern party Otzma Yehudit.