Likud MK Sparks Political Firestorm: Declares “Kahane Was Right” in Knesset Speech
A political earthquake rippled through the Knesset on Wednesday when Likud lawmaker MK Nissim Vaturi stunned both allies and opponents alike with his declaration: “Kahane was right.” The statement, referencing the late far-right ideologue Rabbi Meir Kahane, set off a fierce and immediate uproar across Israel’s political spectrum.
During a heated plenary session on tax benefits for frontier communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza border area, Vaturi delivered remarks that have since dominated headlines. “I think Kahane was right, about many things,” Vaturi said with deliberate defiance. “He was absolutely not a terrorist.”
The MK, unapologetic in tone, went further: “Believe me, today he would be considered a saint and would receive the Israel Prize. We’re not afraid, and you can shout as much as you want.”
His comments came in response to Yesh Atid MK Yorai Lahav Hertzanu, who accused Likud of betraying its liberal nationalist roots. “From a proud liberal nationalist movement, you’ve turned into a pathetic branch of Kahane Chai,” Hertzanu charged, invoking the name of the movement that carried Kahane’s legacy after his assassination.
The exchange instantly electrified the plenum. Some MKs shouted in outrage while others smirked approvingly, a rare moment when Israel’s ideological fracture lines were drawn in the clearest possible ink.
🚨 Deputy Knesset Speaker (Likud) Nissim Vaturi just praised Meir Kahane, who is defined as a terrorist both in the United States and in Israel. That’s not a gaffe, it’s a takeover. Ben-Gvir’s camp now sets the tone for Netanyahu’s party.#savingisraelidemocracy pic.twitter.com/616r4nvO0i
— UnXeptable (@UnxeptableD) November 12, 2025
Opposition Erupts: “He Let the Cat Out of the Bag”
MK Gilad Kariv (Democrats) pounced on the statement, calling it “remarkable honesty” from within the ruling coalition. “We thank MK Vaturi for letting the cat out of the bag,” Kariv said. “Under Netanyahu’s leadership, Likud has become a Kahanist, nationalist, and anti-democratic party. It’s good that the Israeli public is receiving firsthand evidence of the ruling party’s loss of direction.”
The opposition’s outrage centered on the belief that Vaturi’s words expose a deeper ideological shift within the Likud, away from its old secular Zionist framework and toward an unapologetic Jewish nationalist ethos that blurs the line between religion and state.
סגן יו"ר הכנסת ניסים ואטורי מהליכוד: "כהנא צדק בהרבה דברים, מנהיגי הליכוד טעו שהדירו אותו"@diklaaharon (צילום: ערוץ הכנסת) pic.twitter.com/dZxw3MQmvI
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 12, 2025
Who Was Rabbi Meir Kahane?
To many Israelis, Rabbi Meir Kahane remains one of the most divisive figures in modern Jewish history, a man hailed as a visionary by some and reviled as a dangerous extremist by others.
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1932, Kahane was an American Orthodox rabbi who founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in 1968. His mission was simple but incendiary: to defend Jews “by any means necessary.” The JDL became notorious in the U.S. for its violent tactics against perceived antisemitic threats, earning both fear and grudging respect in Jewish communities traumatized by centuries of persecution.
Kahane immigrated to Israel in 1971, forming the Kach movement, which called for the separation of Jews and Arabs and the strengthening of Jewish sovereignty in all territories of the Land of Israel. He was elected to the Knesset in 1984, where his fiery speeches, often cut short by other lawmakers’ walkouts, forced Israel to confront the limits of free speech in a Jewish democracy.
In 1988, Kach was banned from running for the Knesset under laws prohibiting racist parties. Two years later, in 1990, Kahane was assassinated in New York by an Egyptian-American gunman, an act his followers saw as vindication of his warnings about radical Islamist violence.
Kahane in 1983. Could have been yesterday. Still appropriate 42 years later. pic.twitter.com/6ELLKuyNMW
— Mish 🎗️ (@Mish_K_) February 20, 2025
Between Demonization and Prophecy
Vaturi’s statement, though provocative, taps into a deep cultural and security debate that has haunted Israel for decades. While the mainstream political establishment rejects Kahane’s racial separatism, many Israelis quietly concede that his grim predictions about terrorism, assimilation, and the erosion of Jewish identity have borne eerie resemblance to modern realities.
As one political commentator noted, “You don’t have to agree with Kahane to recognize that the questions he raised about Jewish survival and sovereignty remain unresolved, perhaps more relevant now than ever.”
Was Kahane right? I imagine many people have changed their perspective on him the past year. pic.twitter.com/BrJJi9BWEP
— 𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) August 28, 2024
The Larger Picture
The uproar underscores a broader ideological transformation in Israeli politics, one that no longer treats Jewish assertiveness as taboo but as survival instinct. In the post–October 7 era, where security threats have reignited nationalist sentiment, remarks once considered fringe now echo more widely through the halls of power.
For now, Vaturi’s words have reignited an old fire: between those who see Jewish nationalism as the foundation of Israel’s moral compass, and those who fear it is becoming its undoing.
