Shaul Magid: The Life and Afterlife of Meir Kahane

Meir Kahane is one of the most polarizing figures in modern Jewish history. His Jewish Defense League was labeled a terrorist group by the FBI. His KACH party was banned from the Knesset for racism. Kahane was assassinated in 1990, but his name and ideas live on. Kahanist mobs have recently marched through the streets of Israeli cities chanting “Death to Arabs” and attacking random Palestinians. A Kahanist politician was blamed by Israel's Police Commissioner for inciting a new intifada. What is Kahanism, who was Meir Kahane, and how did the ideas of such an extremist figure become, in many ways, mainstream? In this episode, producer Max Freedman speaks to Shaul Magid, professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College and author of the forthcoming book, Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical.