US slams Israeli ultranationalist Ben-Gvir's 'abhorrent' memorial visit

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US sharply rebuked an incoming far-right Israeli minister Thursday, saying Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to a commemoration event for a late terrorist leader is "abhorrent."

"Celebrating the legacy of a terrorist organization is abhorrent. There is no other word for it. It is abhorrent," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. "We remain concerned, as we said before, by the legacy of Kahane Chai."

Kahane Chai, or Kach, is an ultranationalist racist Israeli terrorist organization founded by Israeli-American orthodox rabbi Meir Kahane, who died in 1988. Kahane espoused a violent anti-Arab ideology that has grown among the Israeli right in recent years.

While the US removed Kahane Chai from its Foreign Terrorist Organizations list, it has been deemed a Specially-Designated Global Terrorist organization under US law since 2001.

Ben-Gvir attended a commemoration event for Kahane on Thursday, expressing admiration for the terrorist leader and receiving cheers for supporting the deportation of "terrorists" from Israel.

Ben-Gvir leads the far-right Jewish Power party in Israel and is slated to receive a ministry following Israel's Nov. 1 elections.

The ultranationalist lawmaker's support was key to propelling incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to electoral success. The Jewish Power party is the second-largest in Netanyahu's coalition and the third largest in Israel.

Kahane acknowledged in a 1984 interview with The Washington Post newspaper that his Jewish Defense League bombed the Soviet mission to the United Nations in 1979, the Russian cultural mission in 1970, and the Soviet trade offices in 1971.

"Our violence was a very well-thought-out political movement," he told the Post.