Victor Vancier
| Chaim Ben Pesach | |
|---|---|
| Born |
25 December 1956 United States |
| Residence | Queens, New York |
| Occupation | Political activist |
Victor Vancier (born December 25, 1956), commonly referred to by his Hebrew name, Chaim Ben Pesach (Hebrew: חיים בן פסח) is an American political activist and the founder and director of the United States-based Kahanist organization, Jewish Task Force (JTF) and the former National Chairman of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in the United States. In 1987, he was convicted on charges related to a series of terrorist bombings conducted during his time with the JDL to protest Soviet treatment of Jews. He served over five years in federal prison for his involvement in 18 bombings in New York and Washington.
Pesach was the National Chairman of the Jewish Defense League, but resigned in December 1978 after he went to jail for bombing Egyptian targets in an effort to stop the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. After his release and upon the completion of his probation in July 1983, Rabbi Meir Kahane again appointed Pesach to be National Chairman of the JDL. During the 1980s, Pesach was arrested again, along with two other JDL members in connection with six incidents; a 1984 firebombing of an automobile at a Soviet diplomatic residence, the 1985 and 1986 fire and pipe bombings of an FBI informer's car, the 1986 firebombing at a hall where the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra was performing, and two 1986 detonations of tear gas grenades to protest performances by Soviet dance companies. On November 26, 1986 he was arrested outside the Penta Hotel with a tear gas grenade after a fire broke out in the tunnels under the hotel where the Soviet Moiseyev Dance Company, was staying. He was charged with a federal weapons violation and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Pesach said he did this in the hopes of influencing the Soviet Union to allow Jewish emigration. His court-appointed lawyer Thomas Concannon said about him that it is "fair to say he's a little bit nuts". The judge Israel Leo Glasser regarded Pesach as "a danger to this community". Pesach committed his attacks together with other accomplices. One of his accomplices, at that time 24 years old Jay Cohen, committed suicide after facing a possible maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Pesach said at that time that he felt personally responsible for Cohen's death. According to Pesach, while he was later in jail, he became very thin because they wouldn't give him any kosher food until Republican Senator Jesse Helms intervened on his behalf.
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