No, Rabbi Kahane הי"ד Was Not a Racist

I have learned that writing about “political” matters is a thankless and usually purposeless task. People are so entrenched in their biases and opinions that they are almost never willing to hear what the other side has to say.

Nevertheless, I would like to comment briefly on the current brouhaha surrounding the Otzma Yehudit party, and the nearly universal strident condemnation of Prime Minister Netanyahu for helping broker a deal that will likely result in that party receiving one or two seats in the upcoming election, which will help Likud form a coalition  (should Netanyahu survive his legal troubles). *
According to media reports, the “American Jewish Community” deems Otzma Yehudit racist, fascist, and other lovely terms. In Israel, too, many have used the same epithets, with one prominent leftist rabbi – Benny Lau – going so far as to imply that to vote for Otzma Yehudit is to vote for a racist, fascist party that wants to enact the Nuremberg Laws.

(In fact, Otzma has no intention of introducing the “more extreme” types of bills that Rav Kahane advocated, such as making it illegal for a Jew to marry an Arab, or that Jews and Arabs should have separate beaches to discourage intermarriage.  Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, who is at the head of the Otzma list, served in the Knesset for years as part of the National Union and never raised any such bills.)  

I find it amazing how much people distort the views of Rabbi Meir Kahane, הי"ד . It is my experience that the vast majority of those who find Rabbi Kahane’s beliefs abhorrent have:

1) never actually read his books; 
2) tend to be liberal in their outlook to the extent that they are uncomfortable with Torah concepts that conflict with western liberal values; and 
3) are afraid of the political power Kahane represents.

This short article is not the place to argue the merits of Rav Kahane’s ideas. Personally, I agreed with at least 90 percent of what he had to say, although I believe some of his statements – particularly toward the end of his too-short life – were too extreme and the tone in which he said them was too harsh. I ascribe this tone and extremism to the bitterness he felt in being unfairly undercut and destroyed by his political enemies who were afraid of his growing popularity.

Those who oppose Rabbi Kahane remind me of the mindless, absolute rejection of President Trump by virtually the same groups that are vilifying Otzma Yehudit.

I would encourage any fair-minded person to actually read his books – the two most important of which, in my opinion, are Never Again and Why Be Jewish?. I promise it’s worth your time. Even if you end up disagreeing with him, you will at least come away impressed by the power of his arguments.  He was hated because he spoke the unvarnished truth and refused to kowtow to the false bromides that the Jewish majority liked to console themselves with.  (Here is but one of many examples of his powerful and fearless speeches)

Those who vilify Rabbi Kahane remind me of the mindless, absolute rejection of President Trump by virtually the same groups that are vilifying Otzma Yehudit. In both cases, haters pick up on half-truths, which they distort and twist in order to vilify and politically murder their political opponent. Truth is irrelevant to them.

For example, both Rav Kahane and President Trump have been accused of being racist. In the case of Rabbi Kahane, critics point to his calls to drive the Arabs out of Israel. As for the president, critics point to his statement that there were good people on both sides of the Charlottesville debacle and his strong stance against illegal aliens.

Both these “proofs,” however, are bogus. Rabbi Kahane did not hate Arabs nor did he wish them to be treated with anything less than full civility as long as they left Israel. He argued that no self-respecting Arab would ever sing Hatikvah and salute the Israeli flag with full-hearted loyalty to Israel.

He argued that Arabs genuinely believe we stole their land and far too many of them would like to push us into the sea, or at the very least, use their growing birthrate to democratically vote the State of Israel out of existence. Living where I do – in the 70-percent-and-growing Arab Galilee – I can testify that the issue is real.

The crucial bottom line, however, is that Rabbi Kahane’s argument is based on practicality and history, not racism or animus. To refuse to deal with the issues he raised – and that Otzma Yehudit champions – is to refuse to deal with uncomfortable questions. (Another Kahane classic, incidentally – obviously unread by most Jews – is Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews.)

In the case of President Trump, he is not against immigrants; he’s against illegal immigration.   He does not consider illegal aliens “animals.” He used that term only to describe the murderers and rapists gang members of MS-13.

He also did not say that Nazis marching in Charlottesville were good people; he said exactly the opposite and condemned them severely. In his “good people” comment, Trump was arguing that many of the Confederate-statue-loving protesters were simply opposed to rewriting the history of the Confederacy.

It is too bad that – both in Israel and the U.S. – political discourse has been replaced by lies, smears, and innuendo. Let’s hope that less shrillness and more sanity returns to political discussion and that people start listening to – rather than vilifying – each other.

Published March 1, 2019 in the Jewish Press

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* Personally, I have not yet made up my mind who I will be supporting in the coming election; I am wavering between Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party and Otzma Yehudit.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the way that Otzma Yehudit brings their point of view to the attention of their opponents.  This must-see video was made while the left was blocking attempts to force the Arab muezzins to stop directing their loudspeakers to broadcast wailing from their muezzins at ear-splitting decibel levels at 4:30 AM.

While on the topic, I love this one as well.