Excerpts from They Must Go

Written by Meir Kahane
Published in 1981

"A time bomb in the Holy Land ticks away relentlessly."

American-born Meir Kahane (1932–1990) became an infamous political radical in Israel during the 1970s and 1980s. A fervent Zionist, or person who supports the creation of an independent Jewish state, he moved to Israel with the goal of securing a homeland for Jews. Once there, he became convinced that a Jewish homeland must restrict and limit Arab participation. He noticed a detail in the Israeli constitution that he considered fatal to the survival of the Jewish state, namely that Arabs were allowed to coexist in Israel as full citizens. Kahane was not afraid to voice his opinions about it.

Kahane built a political party around his vision of an Israel created for Jews alone. Labeled a racist by some Israelis, Kahane was embraced by others as...