Why are Jewish influencers suddenly talking about Meir Kahane?
A controversial Instagram video has exposed a wedge among social media personalities who support Israel
A screenshot of a speech by far-right Israeli nationalist Meir Kahane, which was reposted by prominent pro-Israel social media influencer Lizzy Savetsky on Instagram this weekend. Courtesy of YouTube
By Samuel Eli Shepherd February 25, 2025
A popular pro-Israel social media influencer incited outrage over the weekend when she posted a video on her Instagram of far-right Israeli nationalist Meir Kahane delivering a speech about how Israel ought to use force to inspire fear among Palestinians.
“Rabbi Meir Kahane, of blessed memory, was labeled as a violent extremist, but he was right,” Lizzy Savetsky wrote in the post’s caption. “This is the truth right here. The only language the Arabs understand is force and fear. We are tired of Kaddish and tired of yahrtzeits. Get the hostages home and get all of the terrorists out of Gaza for good!!”
Savetsky, a 39-year-old singer and social media director originally from Texas, has been an outspoken supporter of Israel for over a decade, both in-person and for her over 400,000 Instagram followers online. She posts videos condemning college protests and criticism of Israel, particularly by Democratic politicians. Since Oct. 7, Savetsky has been an outspoken supporter of Israel’s war efforts in Gaza, including speaking at a recent New York event of young Israel supporters. She sometimes posts multiple videos a day about the plight of Israelis affected by the war and of her family’s fundraising efforts for Israeli soldiers. In her videos, she often wears an Israel flag necklace.
But even some of Savetsky’s fellow supporters of Israel seemed to think her Kahane video went a step too far.
“So you do support terrorism after all, as long as the terrorist is Jewish?” commented Israel educator Debbie Lechtman, who goes online by the handle @rootsmetals.
“Kahanism is bad,” commented We Are All Hostages, a social media advocacy account that speaks on behalf of the families of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The most liked comment was from a user named Mitch, who put it simply: “lizzie, no.”
Who was Meir Kahane?
Meir Kahane was an ultranationalist American-Israeli politician and Orthodox rabbi who advocated for an extreme, militant approach to combating antisemitism in both America and Israel. In the U.S in 1968, he founded the Jewish Defense League, a radical Jewish self-defense group that generated controversy for arming members with guns, committing acts of domestic terrorism and patrolling majority-Black neighborhoods. His political party in Israel, Kach, advocated for the expulsion of all Arabs and Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories — it was later banned from the Knesset for “incitement to racism.”
Kahane was arrested multiple times in both America and Israel for plotting and committing acts of violence, and he was later assassinated by an Egyptian-American extremist in New York in 1990. His teachings live on among his followers, who often refer to themselves as Kahanists.
Originally a fringe ideology in Israeli society, Kahanism has crept into the Israeli political mainstream since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election in 2022, and particularly since Oct. 7. Itamar Ben-Gvir, who served as the National Security Minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet until he resigned in January, was an open supporter of Kahane and visited his grave last November. Yechiel Leiter, who Netanyahu appointed as Israel’s U.S. ambassador in November, has ties to Kahanist Baruch Goldstein, perpetrator of the Hebron Massacre, and he was formerly a member of the U.S. Jewish Defense League.
In Savetsky’s post, she shared a video of a speech Kahane gave in English shortly before his death. In it, Kahane speaks about how Israel should instill fear in Palestinians instead of being merciful.
“That’s the only language they understand,” Kahane says in the video. “If you’re good to them, you’re not good, you’re weak, and if you’re weak, you’re dead.”
By Tuesday at 10 a.m., Savetsky’s post about Kahane had been seen or engaged with more than 83,000 times and had received hundreds of comments.
And while many comments have expressed support — “May a new Kahane emerge for this generation,” said one — most responses have been critical.
“Kahane would’ve hated everything about you,” noted a user named Political Jew.
In addition to his controversial views on Jewish militancy, Kahane was also a religious fundamentalist, and his followers often advocate against feminism and LGBTQ+ equality, as well as for Israel to be a theocratic, Jewish-only state.
Why do many Jewish activists think this video is dangerous?
After the account Frum TikTok also posted a video of one of Kahane’s speeches on X this Sunday, activists across Jewish social media, including many who identify as Zionist, united to condemn what they saw as a troubling trend.
“chickens for kfc” but instead of LGBT ppl shilling for Hamas it’s Lizzy Savetsky saying “Kahane was right”
— Amelia Adams 📟🚁 (@neuroticjewgay) February 24, 2025
Deeply troubling this needs to be made clear but:
— J Street (@jstreetdotorg) February 24, 2025
1) Meir Kahane was a terrorist.
2) People who support Meir Kahane support a terrorist.
As Kahanism forces its way into mainstream discourse, it’s incumbent upon voices in the Jewish space to call it out and to pressure Jewish organizations to not pedestalize those who invoke his name with favor. Do not invite influencers to your conferences who want to deport my… https://t.co/PAfoowXAt9
— Blake Flayton (@blakeflayton) February 24, 2025
Alana Zeitchik, a Brooklyn-based activist whose relatives were among the Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, called Savetsky’s post “morally reprehensible” in an interview.
“ For someone to claim to be anti-terrorism and then platform a terrorist, one who is convicted for acts of terror in both the U. S. and Israel, is against everything we believe in,” Zeitchik said.
Zeitchik warned that right-wing movements have taken advantage of Jews like Savetsky since Oct. 7. “ They are susceptible to voices that sound pro-Israel and sound like they’re fighting for us,” she said. “But in reality they’re actually promoting very dangerous right-wing narratives that aim to prey on our vulnerabilities, and exploit our fears.”
Savetsky doubles down
In an interview, Savetsky said she does not regret posting the video, despite all the pushback.
“I knew that Meir Kahane was a controversial figure,” said Savetsky, who was slated to join the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City in 2022, but dropped out after receiving what she called a “torrent of antisemitic attacks.” “I’m no stranger to controversy, and I have always prided myself on standing in my values and belief system, regardless of the consequences,” she said.
Nevertheless, Savetsky insisted that other Jewish and pro-Israel activists were misinterpreting her posting of Kahane’s speech to mean she endorses all of Kahane’s ideas.
“I am not a Kahan-a-ist, or whatever they call it,” Savetsky said. “That’s not who I am. I’m not a radical fringe person.”
On Monday, Savetsky posted another video on her Instagram account stating that she does not agree with everything Kahane said, nor does she support all of the actions of Kahane’s followers.
“But on this specific point, about force being the only language that terrorists understand, it’s just the truth,” Savetsky said in the video.
Savetsky expanded in an interview that she does believe force is necessary to combat Palestinian terror, which is why she posted the initial video. “We’ve been trying the same thing for so long, and we’ve been looking at these terrorists through a Western lens, and it just doesn’t work,” Savetsky said. “I think we need to wake up.”
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