Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane

 

Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane or Benyamin Zeev Kahane, sometimes called Benjamin Ze’ev Kahana (Hebrew: בנימין זאב כהנא; 3 October 1966 – 31 December 2000) was an American Orthodox rabbi of far-right affiliations and follower of his father Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of Kach. He was assassinated in 2000. His assassination is suspected to have been carried out by Palestinian militants affiliated with Force 17, which is suspected of its ties to the President of the PA (then Arafat).

Life

Benjamin Ze'ev Kahane, like his father Meir Kahane, immigrated to Israel from New York City. He was a young Israeli scholar and rabbi of Orthodox Jewish origin renown for his succession to the leadership of Kach, a far-right party founded by his father. He was convicted several times by Israeli courts for use of violence towards Palestinians.

Kahane authored The Haggada of the Jewish Idea, a commentary based on his father's teachings of the Passover Haggadah read at the Passover Seder. He wrote a Torah portion sheet called Darka Shel Torah ("The Way of the Torah") that was distributed for the weekly Torah portions. 

Death

Kahane and his wife Talia were shot and killed near the Jewish community of Ofra on 31 December 2000. The ambush took place on road 60 about   north of Jerusalem, just before the town of Ofra. Five of the couple's six children were in the van when they were hit by automatic rifle fire. Binyamin (the driver) was killed, and the vehicle went out of control and smashed into a wall. Talia died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital in Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister's Office subsequently announced the arrest of three members of Force 17–Talal Ghassan, Marzouk Abu Naim, and Na'aman Nofel – who were believed to have carried out the attack under the instruction of Mahmoud Damra, commando of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). However, in 2007, Khaled Shawish was arrested for the attack.

See also

  • Kfar Tapuach
  • Kahanism
  • Yeshivat HaRaayon HaYehudi