US blasts Ben Gvir over visit to grave of extremist rabbi Kahane
State Department says celebrating legacy of ‘terrorist’ Kach party leader is ‘abhorrent;’ Jerusalem memorial event hosted by Ben Gvir’s associate Bentzi Gopstein draws hundreds
The US State Department condemned National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir Wednesday after photos emerged showing the hardliner paying his respects at the grave of extremist rabbi Meir Kahane.
Ben Gvir, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, has previously attempted to distance himself from his association with Kahane, who headed the proscribed ultra-nationalist group Kach before his death at the hands of an assassin in 1990.
In the picture, Ben Gvir can be seen with at least five others reading from a text while standing over the grave at the Har Hamenuhot cemetery in Jerusalem. It was taken on Tuesday, the anniversary of Kahane’s death in the Hebrew calendar.
“As we’ve said in previous and similar occasions, celebrating the legacy of a terrorist and a terrorist organization is abhorrent. We strongly condemn any attempt to whitewash acts of terrorism,” said a State Department spokesperson.
Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit faction have long described themselves as disciples of Kahane, though Ben Gvir has more recently claimed to have moderated his views.
An American-born rabbi, Kahane made a name for himself espousing extreme nationalist views, including pushing for the forcible removal of Israel’s Arabs. A one-term MK before being banned from the Knesset, he was assassinated in New York in 1990 by an Egyptian-US national.
השר איתמר בן גביר בעלייה לקבר הרב כהנא ביום ההילולא. pic.twitter.com/IJcTHlwl4T
— דביר עמר (@dviramar2) November 19, 2024
Both Kach and splinter group Kahane Chai have been labeled terror groups by Israel and the US. Members and supporters of both have killed, attacked, or otherwise threatened or harassed Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli government officials.
Ben Gvir himself was convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization in 2007 for holding up a sign at a protest that read “Expel the Arab enemy” and “Kahane was right.”
Tuesday also saw hundreds of people attend a memorial event for Kahane in Jerusalem, hosted by US-sanctioned far-right activist Bentzi Gopstein, leader of the violent “anti-miscegenation” group Lehava. Gopstein, who has been sanctioned by the US, has close links to Ben Gvir.
At the event, Gopstein revealed that he was investigated by police this month for alleged incitement on the Telegram app. He took aim at “evil” Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for allegedly ordering the probe, adopting rhetoric championed by Ben Gvir and like-minded politicians pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire her.
