Jewish Defense League

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The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is an anti-Arab, Islamophobic, Zionist Jewish extremist organization classified by the FBI as a terrorist group.[1] The JDL was founded and largely led by the militant leader Meir Kahane, who played an active part in his group's actions and ideology.[2]

The FBI describes them as "Jewish-American extremists who consider themselves to be a front line of defense against antisemitism."[3]:16 The Anti-Defamation League has referred to the JDL as "thugs and hooligans."[4]:176–7

Activities[edit]

JDL activities consisted of forcefully occupying offices, spray-painting Hebrew slogans proclaiming “the Jewish nation lives” (cf. "Am Yisrael Chai"), disrupting meetings, intimidation, and incurring bombings, and shootings against their opponents.[5][6] The JDL were suspected by the FBI of killing Alex Odeh, a Palestinian activist against discrimination, and killing many others.[7][8] A JDL spokesman declared that Odeh "got exactly what he deserved."[9] Several were convicted of these crimes, including Robert Manning, a JDL member.[10][11][12]

Meir Kahane[edit]

Meir David HaKohen Kahane (1932–1990) was an Israeli-American orthodox rabbi and politician whose ideology, Kahanism, emphasized ultranationalism and religious Zionism. Alongside the JDL, he also founded the Kach party while living in Israel, a far-right ultranationalist political group whose open racism and advocacy of violence against non-Jews led to its electoral ban.[13] He was assassinated in 1990 while giving a speech to an audience of Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, warning them to flee to Israel before it was "too late."[14][15][16][17]

During the mid-1960s, Kahane joined the John Birch Society under the pseudonym "Michael King."[18]:279,349n19

Baruch Goldstein[edit]

Baruch Kopel Goldstein (1956–1994), a member of the JDL who fatally shot 29 Palestinian Muslims and was hailed as a luminary by the French JDL.[19][20][21] As if this wasn't enough, Baruch turned into what would qualify as a folk hero among not only the JDL, but other militant Jewish groups as well.[22] Following the murders, the Kach group and its offshoots were designated as terrorist groups in Israel and subsequently banned.

Irv Rubin[edit]

Kahane's successor, Irving David Rubin (1945–2002) turned the JDL into an organized crime group that partook in the trafficking of women and car parts, as well as running protection rackets against prominent rappers such as Tupac Shakur.[23] Rubin was also known for an on-screen brawl on the Jerry Springer Show, where he and fellow JDL members faced off against Ku Klux Klan members, after one Klansman mocked Rubin by wearing a kippah under his Klan hood. Rubin was eventually brought down when two of his associates were caught by the FBI trying to organize terrorist attacks against a Californian mosque and the office of Lebanese-American Congressional representative Darrell Issa (a Christian). Rubin committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. "Terrorism 2000/2001". fbi.gov. 2011-02-07. Archived from the original on 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  2. Meir Kahane on the FBI
  3. FBI Analysis of Terrorist Incidents and Terrorist Related Activities in the United States, 1985 (1985) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  4. Bohn, Michael K. (2004). The Achille Lauro Hijacking. ISBN 9781574887792
  5. Weir, Sarah (1970-08-29). "JDL Unleashes Campaign of Violence in America". If Americans Knew. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  6. Moore, Carol (2002-08-16). "Street Fighting Man". carolmoore.net. Archived from the original on 2001-12-26. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  7. Friedman, Robert I. (1990-05-13). "The California Murder Case That Israel Is Sweeping Under the Rug : Justice: In 1985, Alex Odeh was killed by a pipe bomb in Orange County. The FBI has three suspects, but they are in Israel; extradition is unlikely". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  8. "F.B.I. SAYS JEWISH DEFENSE LEAGUE MAY HAVE PLANTED FATAL BOMBS". The New York Times. 1985-11-09. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  9. "Backgrounder:The Jewish Defense League". archive.adl.org. 2014-07-26. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  10. Malek, Alia (2011-10-12). "Alex Odeh's murder, 26 years ago, was an early sign of Southern California's treatment of Palestinian dissent". Mondoweiss. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  11. "j". www.jweekly.com. Retrieved 2025-10-02. {{cite web}}: Text "JDL member gets life term in bombing" ignored (help)
  12. "Robert Manning Sentenced to Life in Prison for 1980 Mail Bomb Killing". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1994-02-10. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  13. "THE KACH MOVEMENT-BACKGROUND-03-Mar-94". mfa.gov.il (in עברית). 2014-10-09. Archived from the original on 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  14. Specter, Michael (November 6, 1990). "Jewish Leader Kahane Slain in New York". The Washington Post
  15. Goldman, John J. (1990-11-06). "Militant Rabbi Kahane Slain by N.Y. Gunman : Assassination: The radical Zionist and founder of the Jewish Defense League had just given a speech. Attacker is wounded and captured". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  16. Juergensmeyer, Mark (2003). Terror in the Mind of God. University of California Press. page 59
  17. Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the manhunt for the al-Qaeda terrorists. Katz, Samuel M. (2002).
  18. Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right by Matthew Dallek (2023) Basic Books. ISBN 1541673565.
  19. Klein, Jeff (2013-07-04). "A visit to the grave of mass-murderer Baruch Goldstein". Mondoweiss. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  20. Liphshiz, Cnaan (2014-03-02). "French JDL praises Baruch Goldstein's massacre of Palestinians". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  21. Fabian, Emanuel (2014-03-02). "French JDL praises 1994 Hebron massacre of Palestinians". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  22. Helm, Sarah (1994-02-28). "The Independent". The Independent. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  23. "FBI Files on Tupac Shakur Murder show he received Death Threats from Jewish Gang". Haaretz. April 14, 2011.