Mike Guzovsky, also known as Mike Guzofsky and Yekutiel Ben-Ya'acov, is an American-Israeli follower of the late

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

Meir Kahane. He lives in the

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building *Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fina ...

Kfar Tapuach Kfar Tapuach ( he, כְּפַר תַּפּוּחַ, ''lit.'', Apple-village) is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish Israeli settlement in the West Bank, founded in 1978. It sits astride Tapuach Junction, one of the major traffic junctions in th ...

in the West Bank. Guzovsky was part of

Terror Against Terror Terror Against Terror (Hebrew: ''Terror Neged Terror'', ''"TNT"'') was a radical Jewish militant organization active in Israel that committed several violent attacks directed at Palestinians, ranging from vandalism to mass shooting to murder. The g ...

(TNT), a militant group organized by Rabbi Meir Kahane's Kach organization. He and several other American immigrants stepped up TNT's violence in 1983 arson, beatings, and on March 4, 1984 shooting a bus of Arab workers near

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

, wounding six. Guzovsky was charged with four others, one of whom was to testify for the prosecution but fled. Guzovsky was acquitted while the others were convicted. Guzovsky would continue to serve in leadership roles in

Kahane Chai Kach ( he, כך, lit=Thus) was a radical Orthodox Jewish, ultranationalist political party in Israel, existing from 1971 to 1994. Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1971, based on his Jewish-Orthodox-nationalist ideology (subsequently dubbed Kahan ...

(an offshoot of Kach) and was jailed several times in later violent activism. The

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

reported that bu the mid-1990s, Guzovsky was the leader of Kahane Chai (an offshoot of Kach) in the United States, where he demonstrated against Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and for

Baruch Goldstein Baruch Kopel Goldstein ( he, ברוך קופל גולדשטיין; born Benjamin Carl Goldstein; December 9, 1956 – February 25, 1994) was an Israeli-American mass murderer, religious extremist, and physician who perpetrated the 1994 terrorist ...

, who killed 29 Muslims. When Rabin was assassinated in 1995, Guzovsky stated that "Rabin was bad for Jews" and said of his murderer, Yigal Amir, that "An intelligent man, one like this law student, had to act." He has organized peaceful resistance against the dismantlement of settlements. In 2005, Guzovsky said in the PBS documentary ''

Israel's Next War "Israel's Next War" is an episode of the PBS series ''Frontline'' that aired on 5 April 2005. The episode, by Israeli director Dan Setton, investigated the rise of the religious right in Israel and the role it could play as a "spoiler" in peace ne ...

'': "We have thousands of civilians with the military know-how to instigate a mega-attack against Arabs, unidentified people, like Rabin's assassin, Yigal Amir, who can do such a deed. No matter how much the security service and the police harass us, it won't do them any good." According to the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

, Guzovsky is a Jewish

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

and is on the list of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guzovsky, Mike Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Israeli activists Israeli settlers Israeli Orthodox Jews American Kahanists American Jews American Orthodox Jews Israeli Kahanists American emigrants to Israel