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 of ...

Meir Kahane Meir David HaKohen Kahane (; he, רבי מאיר דוד הכהן כהנא ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who serve ...

. 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 (fin ...

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 The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Guzovsky was part of Terror Against Terror (TNT), a militant group organized by Rabbi

'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 (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 Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

, 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 Yigal Amir ( he, יגאל עמיר; born May 31, 1970) is an Israeli right-wing extremist who assassinated former Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin. At the time of the assassination he was a law student at Bar-Ilan University. The assas ...

, 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'': "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 Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

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 The Home Office, a United Kingdom government department, has, from August 2005 to 31 March 2009, excluded 101 individuals from the UK for having "engaged in unacceptable behaviour". Of those, 22 were excluded by then-Home Secretary Jacqui Smith be ...

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