The United States has condemned far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir for attending an event honoring an ultranationalist rabbi who inspired violent attacks against Palestinians and Arab Americans. US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Thursday criticized Ben-Gvir, who is likely to become a minister in Israel’s next coalition government, for praising Meir Kahane at a memorial service earlier in the day. In May, Washington removed Kahane’s ultra-nationalist movement, Kahane Chai, from the list of “foreign terrorist organizations” (FTO), prompting outrage from Palestinian rights advocates. “Celebrating the legacy of a terrorist organization is abhorrent,” Price told reporters. “There’s no other word for it – it’s despicable. And we remain concerned, as we’ve said before, about the legacy of Kahane Chai and the continued use of rhetoric among violent right-wing extremists.” Kahane, who was elected to the Israeli Knesset in 1984 on a platform that openly supported the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland, was killed in New York in 1990. But his followers continued to carry out violent attacks. When the State Department delisted Kahane Chai as a “terrorist” group, it described the move as strictly bureaucratic, saying the organization had been put into limbo. But rights activists say the Kahanist movement remains active despite the split and the FTO list should have been updated, not removed. During Thursday’s news briefing, Price noted that Kahane Chai remains on the Treasury Department’s list of “specially designated global terrorists.” Israeli media reported that Ben-Gvir praised Kahane on Thursday, saying the late rabbi was about “uncompromising love for Israel.” However, the far-right Israeli politician also drew jeers from the crowd when he said he “does not support deporting all Arabs,” according to the Times of Israel. Before founding Kach – which later became Kahane Chai – in Israel, Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in the US. The hard-line pro-Israel group has been linked to several violent attacks on US soil, including the 1985 killing of Palestinian-American organizer Alex Odeh in California. In 1994, a US-born member of the JDL and Kach killed dozens of worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank. And in 2001, JDL leaders planned to blow up a mosque in California, as well as the office of Lebanese-American Congressman Darrell Issa. Israel’s Ben-Gvir had a photo of the Hebron mosque shooter in his living room as recently as 2020, according to a number of Israeli and international media reports. This month, rights campaigners called on the administration of US President Joe Biden to review its ties with Israel after former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged as the biggest winner in the country’s fifth election in four years. The longtime Israeli politician is set to return to power in a coalition that includes Ben-Gvir and other far-right lawmakers. However, Biden has signaled that he will maintain unconditional US support for Israel after the new administration is formed. Earlier this week, Biden called Netanyahu and congratulated him. “The president reaffirmed the strength of the bilateral partnership and underscored his unwavering support for Israel’s security,” White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre told reporters after the call.
