Rabbi Meir Kahane filed a complaint with the Supreme Court Sunday alleging that the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) is discriminating against him and his Kach Party. Kahane’s lawyer contended that the IBA is denying the controversial Knesset member air-time and thereby deprives him of freedom of speech and a public platform.
The IBA, a State-owned autonomous agency, conceded that it “distinguishes between Kahane and other members of the Knesset” but maintained that this does not constitute discrimination. According to the IBA, Kahane’s extremist views are “contrary to the spirit of the Broadcasting Law.”
Kahane and Kach have been widely denounced as racist for advocating the expulsion of all Arabs from Israel and the administered territories and other measures aimed against Israeli Arabs. President Chaim Herzog, addressing high school students in the context of a study day on democracy February 19, warned against “dangerous ideologies that recall the darkest age of humanity and of the annals of our people.” He referred to “Kahanism” in that respect.
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