Police of the Judea and Samaria district raided homes of a number of right-wing activists believed to be responsible for operating Kach and Kahane Chai websites. The webmasters were taken into custody. Both Kach and Kahane Chai, organizations promoting the ideology of late Knesset Member Rabbi Meir Kahane, were outlawed by Israel in 1994 (Rabbi Kahane was murdered by an Islamist terrorist in New York in 1990).
The police operation, codenamed "Trojan Horse", was the result of a three-month investigation. Police stated that the operation was carried out with the cooperation of Interpol. As a result of the operation, police report, the Hebrew websites are down as of today. However, within one hour of the police announcement, the websites were operating once again.
Following the police raid, Kach activist Itamar Ben-Gavir released the following statement: "Instead of arresting Hamas terrorists who operate openly in the Galilee area, they come to a group of 'good Jews' seeking to spread the truth. They will not silence us. We will continue to spread the word and maintain the Kahane website." Ben-Gavir also chided the police, saying, "What can you do? They arrested the wrong people."
Four other Kach activists were arrested Saturday night during a demonstration in support of Noam Federman, currently held without charges in administrative detention.
In October of 2003, four websites operated by Kach and Kahane Chai were officially included by the United States State Department on its list of "foreign terrorist organizations". It was the first time the list was extended to include Internet sites, although both organizations were already designated by the State Department as "terrorist organizations".
The police operation, codenamed "Trojan Horse", was the result of a three-month investigation. Police stated that the operation was carried out with the cooperation of Interpol. As a result of the operation, police report, the Hebrew websites are down as of today. However, within one hour of the police announcement, the websites were operating once again.
Following the police raid, Kach activist Itamar Ben-Gavir released the following statement: "Instead of arresting Hamas terrorists who operate openly in the Galilee area, they come to a group of 'good Jews' seeking to spread the truth. They will not silence us. We will continue to spread the word and maintain the Kahane website." Ben-Gavir also chided the police, saying, "What can you do? They arrested the wrong people."
Four other Kach activists were arrested Saturday night during a demonstration in support of Noam Federman, currently held without charges in administrative detention.
In October of 2003, four websites operated by Kach and Kahane Chai were officially included by the United States State Department on its list of "foreign terrorist organizations". It was the first time the list was extended to include Internet sites, although both organizations were already designated by the State Department as "terrorist organizations".