Kahanism

Kahanism (Hebrew: כהניזם) is a religious Zionist ideology based on the views of Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League and the Kach party in Israel.

Kahane held the view that most Arabs living in Israel are the enemies of Jews and Israel itself, and believed that a Jewish theocratic state, where non-Jews have no voting rights, should be created.

The Kach party has been banned by the Israeli government. In 2004, the U.S. State Department designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization. In 2022, it was removed from the U.S. terror blacklist due to "insufficient evidence" of the group's ongoing activity, but it remains a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity.

The Kahanist Otzma Yehudit party won six seats in the 2022 election and is a member of the Israeli government, though it was not a member between 21 January and 19 March 2025 because the government had agreed to a ceasefire in the Gaza war during that time. The party, and the Kahanist movement as a whole, have been described as espousing Jewish fascism.