Kahane Chai (Kach)
Goals and Objectives. Kach and Kahane Chai are radical Jewish groups that aim to restore the Biblical state of Israel by annexing the West Bank and Gaza as well as parts of Jordan, and expelling all Arabs from this territory. These groups also seek the strict implementation of Jewish law.
Favored Tactics. Kach and Kahane Chai have attacked Palestinian targets with guns, grenades, bombs, and other weapons.

Brief History. Kach was founded in 1971 by Meir Kahane, an Israeli- American Rabbi who was assassinated in New York in 1990 by El Sayyid Nosair, an Islamic radical also connected to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Kahane’s son, Binyamin, then founded Kahane Chai (Kahane Lives), although Kach appears to have continued to operate as an independent organization. Binyamin and his wife were killed in a 2000 drive-by shooting by a Palestinian group in a West Bank settlement.

Beginning with the 2002 edition of Patterns of Global Terrorism, the State Department has listed the two groups as one entry, suggesting that the two have essentially merged. In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, a radical Jewish settler and U.S. immigrant to Israel, attacked a mosque in Hebron with a machine gun, killing 29 worshippers and wounding about 150. Goldstein was reportedly associated with Kach and other Jewish militant groups. Both Kach and Kahane Chai publicly supported the attack, leading Israel to declare them both terrorist organizations. The groups have conducted numerous attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem with rocks, grenades, and firearms, including a failed attempt to assassinate several Palestinian mayors. Since the beginning of the second Intifada in September, 2000, at least seven Palestinians have been shot in the West Bank by Jewish settlers believed by Israeli police to be associated with Kahane Chai. In 2002, they were suspected of involvement in several attacks against Palestinians, but neither group claimed responsibility.

Favored Tactics. Kach and Kahane Chai have attacked Palestinian targets with guns, grenades, bombs, and other weapons.

Anti-American Activities. Neither Kach or Kahane Chai is known to have attacked U.S. interests. However, in December 2001 several members of the Jewish Defense League, a group associated with Kahane, were arrested by the FBI in California and charged with plotting to bomb the offices of Representative Darrell Issa, as well as a mosque and a Muslim advocacy group in Los Angeles.