# Meir Kahane

Rabbi Meir David HaKohen Kahane (; Hebrew: רבי מאיר דוד הכהן כהנא‎; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset. A cofounder of the Jewish Defense League and founder of the Israeli political party Kach, he espoused militant views and actions to combat anti-Semitism that led to a 1971 criminal conviction in the United States for conspiracy to manufacture explosives intended for the Soviet Mission to the United Nations in New York City, and in Israel for plotting to blow up the Libyan embassy in Brussels in revenge for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich; in each case he received a suspended sentence and probation.Kahane publicized his "Kahanism" ideology, which he claimed was simply Torah Judaism based on Halakha (Jewish law), through published works, weekly articles, speeches, debates on college campuses and in synagogues throughout the United States, and appearances on various televised programs and radio shows. He was an intense advocate for Jewish causes, such as organizing defense squads and patrols in Jewish neighborhoods and demanding for the Soviet Union to "release its oppressed Jews".