A man identified as a cousin of Rabbi Meir Kahane — the controversial founder of the Jewish Defense League assassinated in a Manhattan hotel — has been arrested for ramming his car into a pro-Palestinian protester on the Upper East Side.
Reuven Kahane, a 57-year-old real estate developer, was arrested at Park Ave. and E. 72nd St. by police following the clash with protesters picketing the home of a Barnard College trustee Tuesday morning, cops said.
Protesters quickly identified Reuven Kahane as a cousin of Meir Kahane, and on Wednesday the Times of Israel reported the same. Reuven Kahane has also been identified as a cousin of the firebrand rabbi in past media reports through the decades.
Kahane and his lawyer declined at court to discuss the case or his relationship to Meir Kahane.
“We haven’t seen his family tree, so we can’t comment,” said the lawyer, Sara Shulevitz.
Meir Kahane was barred from Israel’s parliament for anti-Arab views before being gunned down in 1990. His assassin, El Sayyid Nosair, was an adherent of the blind sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, whose sect was linked to the 9/11 attacks. Nosair was also convicted of involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The homes of four Columbia and Barnard College trustees were picketed early Tuesday. At Park Ave. and E. 72nd St., the police said about 25 pro-Palestinian demonstrators started protesting at about 8:45 a.m.
“The arresting officer observed the incident and witnessed the defendant continue to move into the crosswalk in spite of multiple people crossing at the crosswalk,” the prosecutor said during Reuven Kahane’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court Wednesday morning.
