Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose extremist Kach party was disqualified from the Nov. 1 Knesset elections, is urging his followers to boycott the voting.
He told a rally of some 2,000 here that the ban was a “conspiracy of the Likud and Labor.” He accused Likud of treason.
The Central Election Committee decided unanimously two weeks ago to remove Kach from the ballot, because it found its platform to be racist.
Kahane’s appeal against the panel’s decision was rejected last week by Israel’s High Court of Justice.
Kahane is using the ban to arouse his supporters at street rallies. They vow to fight until “Meir Kahane becomes prime minister.”
The American-born rabbi apparently is trying to prove wrong the political pundits who predicted that his movement would fall apart once he was eliminated from the Knesset race.
To keep enthusiasm at a high pitch, he has filed to be a poll watcher in the Israeli Arab town of Shfaram on Election Day.
The move is a deliberate provocation to the Arabs there, who have been harassed by Kahane’s cohorts in the past. But the Central Elections Committee says there is no legal way to keep Kahane out of Shfaram on Nov. 1.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
