Jewish right-wing Kach movement is removed from banned terror groups’ list in USA
Washington will un-ban party founded by Meir Kahane, along with jihadist group, from its list of foreign terrorist organizations, according to reports.
A radical Jewish right-wing movement is set to be removed from the USA’s list of banned terror groups, along with an Islamic one.
Washington will un-ban the Kach Movement from its list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), according to reports.
The now-inactive movement was banned from running for elections to the Knesset in 1988 for inciting racism against Israeli-Arabs. It was banned outright in Israel in 1994.
Kach was led by former MK Rabbi Meir Kahane until his assassination in 1990. Its supporter Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in 1994.
It is still designated as a terrorist group by Israel, the European Union, Canada and Japan.
The State Department informed Congress it will withdraw the designation, which was contested in court by the group, as Kahane Chai “has not been linked to a terrorist attack since 2005,” an official said.
Designation as a foreign terrorist organization severely limits activities in the United States, including criminalizing financial support.
The State Department said it was still keeping the two groups on the less potent Specially Designated Global Terrorist list,
Washington will also reportedly remove the Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, an umbrella of several jihadist terrorist groups based in Gaza and across the Middle East. The council, which included the al-Qaeda Iraqi branch, was disbanded in 2006 and replaced by the Islamic State of Iraq.
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