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Killer linked to banned terrorist group

The soldier responsible for murdering four Israeli Arabs on a bus in Shfaram had close links to the banned extremist organization Kach, which has long been linked to attacks on Arabs.

Kach was founded by a US-born rabbi, Meir Kahane, who advocated the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the West Bank in order to extend Israeli sovereignty over the entire territory. When legal, the group ran in several Israeli parliamentary elections before Kahane was elected as its only MP in 1984.

Kach was disqualified from the next general election for its racist platform.

Kahane was assassinated in New York in 1990.

Four years later, Kach was outlawed as a terrorist organization by the Israeli government after one of its supporters, Baruch Goldstein, a US-born doctor, massacred 29 Muslims at prayer in Hebron.

The US also lists Kach as a terrorist organization.

Kach supporters have murdered or attempted to murder Arabs on other occasions, but the group does not make public claims.

Kach was not entirely driven underground. The core membership is believed to amount to only a few dozen but the group commands support in several West Bank settlements, including Tapuach, where the soldier responsible for the killings in Shfaram lived, and Hebron.

Three years ago, Israeli police arrested a Kach leader in connection with an attempt to plant explosives outside a Palestinian girls school in Jerusalem.

An offshoot of Kach, Kahane Chai -- meaning "Kahane Lives" -- was founded by Meir Kahane's son Binyamin after his father's assassination. He and his wife were shot dead in a Palestinian ambush in the West Bank in December 2000.
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