Meir David HaKohen Kahane (born Martin David Kahane on August 1, 1932, in Brooklyn, New York; died November 5, 1990) was an American-Israeli Orthodox rabbi, ultra-nationalist writer, activist, and extremist political figure. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, his father was a Revisionist Zionist and friend of Vladimir Jabotinsky. As a teenager, he joined Betar, the militant youth wing of the Revisionist movement, which shaped his early ultra-nationalist views. He pursued rabbinical studies and became ordained, blending religious fervor with political activism. In 1968, amid rising antisemitism and the counterculture era, Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in New York, a militant group advocating armed self-defense for Jews against perceived threats. The JDL engaged in violent protests and was linked to bombings and extortion, leading to Kahane's 1971 conviction in the US for conspiring to bomb Soviet targets. In 1971, he immigrated to Israel, adopting the Hebrew name Meir Kahane, and founded the Kach party that same year, promoting Kahanism—an ideology calling for Jewish supremacy, the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the territories, and a theocratic state based on strict Jewish law. Elected to the Knesset in 1984, his party gained notoriety for racist rhetoric, including proposals to sterilize non-Jews. Kahane's extremism led to Kach's ban in 1988 under anti-racism laws, and he faced multiple terrorism convictions in Israel for incitement and threats. His writings, such as 'Never Again' and 'The Story of the Jewish Defense League,' popularized his views, influencing far-right groups. On November 5, 1990, Kahane was assassinated in New York by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian militant linked to early al-Qaeda networks, after delivering a speech. Kahane's legacy remains polarizing: hailed by extremists as a defender of Jewish rights, he was widely condemned for promoting violence, racism, and terrorism. His ideology continues to inspire groups like Lehava, led by Bentzi Gopstein, whom Kahane influenced. Kahane's dual US-Israeli citizenship and transatlantic activism highlighted networks of Jewish militancy, with allegations of FBI infiltration of the JDL and Israeli intelligence monitoring of Kach underscoring his role in global influence webs.