Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League and head of the new Israeli party, Kach (Thus), announced today that he is launching a nationwide drive in this country to organize a group called Af Sha’al (Not One Inch) dedicated to opposing any Israeli attempt to give up “the liberated lands of Eretz Yisroel.”
Kahane, who is in this country for two weeks in order to raise funds for his Knesset election campaign, said the new organization intends to collect 100,000 signatures “to oppose any further retreat by the Israeli government under U.S. pressure, this time including Judaea and Samaria.” At the same time, the JDL leader called upon Jews in this country and in Israel to “pledge civil disobedience to prevent retreat from the liberated Jewish territories.”
Kahane also announced that “in order to strengthen opposition to retreat” two settlement groups, one in Israel and the other in the U.S. for the purpose of attempting to settle in Samaria “in defiance of governmental ban.” The groups will be known as Garin Af Sha’al (the “not one inch” settlers) and will be formally launched Saturday night at a rally at Hunter College.
In announcing these moves, Kahane said that Torah law takes precedence over that of a Knesset or government decision “that is in opposition to Halacha (which) demands unlimited Jewish settlement in every part of the Land of Israel.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
