On steroids: Netanyahu today speaks exactly like Kahane in 1988

Shimon Shivas compares Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset to the rhetoric of Rabbi Meir Kahane and his "Kach" movement from 1988. Shivas cites verbal parallels: Kahane called Israeli Arabs a "time bomb," Netanyahu called their representatives a "Trojan horse" and claimed every moderate word from them is a "trick." Shivas recalls that the Likud in 1988 worked to disqualify Kahane, while Netanyahu brought his successors into the Knesset and one of them serves as a senior minister in his government. The article calls for forming a government in partnership with Ra'am to curb incitement, warning that a state that denies the legitimacy of the Arab voice cannot endure as both Jewish and democratic.

Shimon Shivas, a veteran commentator, compares Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset to the rhetoric of Rabbi Meir Kahane and the "Kach" movement from 1988. Shivas cites verbal parallels: Kahane called Israeli Arabs a "time bomb," Netanyahu called their representatives a "Trojan horse" and claimed every moderate word from them is a "trick." Shivas recalls that the Likud in 1988 worked to disqualify Kahane, while Netanyahu brought his successors into the Knesset and one of them serves as a senior minister in his government. The article calls for forming a government in partnership with Ra'am to curb incitement, warning that a state that denies the legitimacy of the Arab voice cannot endure as both Jewish and democratic.