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    • We must say “enough” to Kahanism in the Knesset – opinion
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    We must say “enough” to Kahanism in the Knesset – opinion

    Sakege Posted on

    The 25th Knesset and the 37th government of the State of Israel have presented us with a series of unprecedented events, decisions and phenomena that represent a significant threat to Israeli democracy and the future of Israeli society.

    The most serious of these is the entry of Kahanism into the mainstream of Israeli politics and the legitimacy that this ideology is gaining among large segments of politics, even in unexpected places. For example, with a young secular woman from Tel Aviv.

    Last week, Minister of Social Equality and Promotion of Women May Golan, a member of Likud, once the party that led the boycott against Meir Kahane in the Knesset, put on one of the most embarrassing displays seen on the floor , while shouting and waving his arms. seeking to defend the tarnished honor of Michael Ben-Ari, an avowed Kahane supporter and disqualified from running for the Knesset.

    One can only imagine what Menachem Begin and Yitzhak ShamirMay they rest in peace, they would have said if they had listened to his words. They are probably turning in their graves.

    The dramatic change in attitude toward the Kahanist ideology and its proponents is perhaps the most significant change Likud has experienced since its founding and into the decline that now affects the party under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    MP May Golan visits MP Itamar Ben-Gvir’s makeshift office in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on February 14, 2022 (credit: Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90).

    Netanyahu has not only normalized Itamar Ben Gvir and their Kahanist doctrine, but has also turned them from minor actors into those who set the tone for the Israeli right. In many ways, he has facilitated and encouraged the infiltration of Kahanism into the heart of his party, opening the doors of Likud to him.

    His partners in the Likud leadership, who indulge in dreams of succession, will discover in the future that Kahanism will show them the way out of their own party.

    In the last two years, Kahanism is no longer just a phenomenon whose normalization must be fought. This racist and undemocratic worldview has not only taken root among certain audiences but has also been treated lightly by a much broader public, including actors and institutions that should have taken a clear and uncompromising stance against it.

    What is required of us today is no longer a “battle of containment,” but rather a concentrated effort to push this dangerous phenomenon from the center of Israeli existence to the extreme and illegitimate extremes to which it belongs.

    A significant part of the Israeli media must be criticized for nurturing Ben-Gvir and normalizing his Kahanist views, as well as the distorted relationship between him and some journalists and media outlets.

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    Another important issue is the capitulation of key actors of the national-religious public to the currents emerging from the Lehava and Otzma Yehudit movements, and the difficulty in presenting a clear and forceful theological, educational and community alternative to these trends.

    However, criticism of the complete normalization of Kahanism must be directed primarily at the political system and politicians. First and foremost among those who failed in their duties is, of course, Netanyahu, who paved the way for Ben-Gvir to reach the Knesset, the cabinet table, and his dramatic influence on the rule of law.

    Netanyahu’s negligence regarding Ben-Gvir’s dangerous actions, such as changing the status quo on the Temple Mount, is no less serious and consequential than his failures and actions that led to the October 7 disaster, and the sign in the wall is clear.

    BUT NETANYAHU is not the only one responsible nor the only one to blame. Kahanism has acquired a malignant dominance also thanks to politicians and parties of the apparently liberal center, who have remained indecisive or, worse still, have been aligning themselves with the right.

    In the last two years, the opposition has failed in many crucial tasks, one of which is clear and vehement opposition to the penetration of Kahanism into the political mainstream. Today I look at my colleagues in the liberal parties and wonder how it is possible that what was an obvious red line for Likud leaders in the past is not one for us today.

    Examples of extremism that we have seen only the tip of the iceberg

    Those called to fix Loop and Lebanon, the support for extremist settler violence in the territories, the calls for revenge and the bloodlust to which we are exposed, the flagrant violation of the status quo on the Temple Mount, the takeover of police, the reckless distribution of weapons, the attempts to subordinate the National Guard under Ben-Gvir and the complete disregard for bloodshed in Arab communities are just the tip of the iceberg of the future that awaits us if we do not achieve dismantle the legitimacy that Ben-Gvir’s Kahanism has gained.

    Rejecting this legitimacy requires clearly drawing a line in the political and public arena. It requires establishing clear and unambiguous limits. That is why, at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, my fellow deputy Naama Lazimi and I announced that we would boycott all speeches by Ben-Gvir.

    At first glance, this is a symbolic step, but we attach to it a call and a demand to return to the fundamental principles of what is legitimate and illegitimate in Israeli politics. This simple and basic step, once shared by all Zionist parties, must become the hallmark of political forces committed to the future of Israeli democracy.

    We hope that our friends in the opposition will adopt it, and we hope that the general public, who filled the streets for the last two years, will join this demand of their representatives.

    Our laxity has led to this dangerous change. It’s time to use our feet and our voices to say: enough.

    What is required of us today is no longer a “battle of containment,” but a concerted effort to push this dangerous phenomenon from the center of Israeli existence to the extreme and illegitimate margins to which it belongs.

    The writer is a Labor Party MP.



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