Knesset Aims at Kahane, Bars Racist Parties

JERUSALEM —  Israel’s Knesset voted 66-0 Wednesday to ban racist and anti-democratic parties from running for Parliament in a law aimed at stopping right-wing Rabbi Meir Kahane’s anti-Arab Kach party.

The American-born Kahane was absent for the vote. He was removed from the hall by Acting Speaker Aharon Nahmias after ignoring warnings to refrain from using Bible quotations in a speech about the proposal. Nahmias said they were irrelevant.

When Kahane persisted, Nahmias made good his promise to remove him. “What a lynching this is,” Kahane said twice.

Most other members of Parliament also were absent for the vote. Six, members of two far-left parties, abstained.

No Dual Citizenship

Immediately after the vote, Parliament unanimously passed a bill requiring that Israeli members of Parliament give up citizenship they might hold in any other country. Kahane is both American and Israeli.

The law was drafted after the American-born Kahane won a seat in the Knesset a year ago on a platform advocating the expulsion of the 2 million Arabs living under Israeli rule.

The law will prevent a party from presenting a list of candidates if the party incites racism, negates Israel’s democratic character or opposes its existence as the state of the Jewish people.

Won’t Be Retroactive

Justice Ministry officials said the law is unlikely to be enforced retroactively, and Kahane is expected to remain in office until the next elections.

Legal experts say the law could also serve as a basis for action against Israeli parties on the far left.