'Kahane was right' graffiti sprayed in Jaffa, Nazerat Illit

Kach supporters believed behind vandalism; police say act probably meant to mark 20th anniversary of rabbi's assassination

Eli Senyor|Published: 10.26.10 , 09:00

"Kahane was right" graffiti was found Tuesday morning in four locations in Jaffa and several locations in Nazerat Illit.

The police believe that the vandalism was perpetrated as part of activity by Kach supporters, marking the 20th anniversary of Rabbi Meir Kahane's assassination. No suspects have been arrested as yet.

Rabbi Meir Kahane (1932-1990) was an American-Israeli Orthodox rabbi and a Knesset member. Kahane founded two political movements: The Jewish Defense League (JDL) in the USA and Kach in Israel. Though the latter won a single Knesset sit in 1984, its radical right-wing ideology, which called for the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian territories, was labeled racist; and in 1994 was outlawed completely. Kahane was assassinated in Manhattan in 1990.

Camal Agrabiyeh, head of the Jaffa neighborhoods association, told Ynet that the atmosphere in the mixed city was regrettable: "Tensions have been running high for a while now, so I'm not surprised by this attempt to incite things further. I hope the police take this seriously and find who did this."

Sharon Roffe-Ofir contributed to this report