Kahane Returning to U.S. to Campaign Against Kissinger

Rabbi Meir Kahane, the former leader of the Jewish Defense League, left Israel for New York today to launch what he described as a campaign among American Jews against Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger’s detente and Middle East policies. (Kahane supporters in New York told the JTA that he was expected to arrive there late this evening.)

A police spokesman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that a court order barring Kahane’s departure from Israel pending trial was waived. The order originally was believed to be related to arms smuggling charges on which Kahane must face trial. The police spokesman said it was actually issued on incitement charges for which Kahane since has been acquitted and, therefore, his application for waiver was granted.

In a statement before he left, Kahane said he was returning to America “to lead the struggle against the foreign policy of the emperor’s new clothes.” According to Kahane, the “emperor” is Kissinger and his clothes are “his general policy of detente and his Mideast intrigues in particular.” Kahane, who failed to win a single Knesset seat for his JDL ticket in the Israeli elections last year, claimed that his mission to the U.S. had “the support of vast numbers of Israelis.”