Jump to content

Betar US

Edit links
Extended-protected article
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Betar US
בית"ר כינה
FounderZe'ev Jabotinsky
LeaderRoss Glick[1]
Dates of operation1929—Present
Country United States
IdeologyReligious Zionism
Anti-antisemitism
Jewish fascism (alleged)[2]
Political positionRight-wing[3] to far-right[4]
Websitebetarus.org Edit this at Wikidata

Betar US (Hebrew: בית"ר כינה, romanized: Beitar Kina) also known as Betar USA (Hebrew: בית"ר אַרצוֹת הַבְּרִית, romanized: Beitar Eretzot Habrit) is the United States sector of the paramilitary Revisionist Zionist Betar Movement.[5]

The group which self-describes itself as "vandals", has faced controversy over its support for Zionist terrorism and Kahanism, a movement that calls for segregation of non-Jews.[6][7] Betar US has been blacklisted by the Anti-Defamation League for its embrace of "Islamophobia [and] harras[ing] Muslims."[8][9][6]

History

Betar was established in 1923 by Ze'ev Jabotinsky and the United States sector was established in 1929.[10] It was described as a "Jewish Fascist" organization and far-right, and had supposed ties to fascist Italy during the time of its rise and establishment.[11] This was due to some democratic countries taking certain inspiration from the ideologies of fascist Italy and Benito Mussolini.[12]

By 1951, Moshe Arens became the leader of the Betar US after graduating as a Betar student.[13] He was a member of Betar since he was a teenager.[14]

In 1975, members of Betar US alongside its leader Betar US, Barry Liben, occupied the United Nations building in response to how the Soviet Union was treating Jewish citizens who were refusing to let its Jewish citizens to make Aliyah, though they left peacefully after.[15]

From 1994[16] to 1996, Ronn Torossian led Betar US after being a member of the organization for 10 years.[17]

On January 2, 2020, the past leader of Betar US, Barry Liben, died in New York City.[18]

According to Haaretz, it is tied to Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.[8]

2023–present Gaza war

Betar US was revived in June 2023.[6] After the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel, Betar US gained prominence for its extreme approach against pro-Palestinianism and antisemitism online and in real life.[19] It encourages masked “aggressive in-person protests” and vandalism (self-describing itself as vandals), and has protested against mosques and vandalised Palestinian flags.[6]

After the 2024 presidential elections in the United States, its newly elected president, Donald Trump, signed an executive order to deport college students who were on green cards and visas who showed support for Hamas and other organizations on the United States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. This led Betar US to create "Operation Wrath of Zion" which is a doxing campaign to find the personal details of college students who attended pro-Palestine protests and showed what they described as antisemitic and pro-Hamas rhetoric.[20] They called for Jews in the United States and Israelis to report all "pro-Hamas" students to either Betar or the Federal Bureau of Investigation so they can get deported.[21] In late January 2025, Betar US submitted a list of students who showed pro-Palestine sentiments to Donald Trump after identifying them in order to get them arrested or deported by ICE.[22]

During counter protests at the New York University, Betar US vandalized the university’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World area with Zionist and anti-Arab slogans.[23] In October of 2024, the New York University spokesperson condemned Betar for social media posts calling for violent acts.[24]

Betar made a threat of pager attack against Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, when she was going to visit London. In a social media post the group wrote: "Join us to give Francesca a [pager emoji] in London on Tuesday." It's believed that the emoji is a reference to Israel's pager attacks in Lebanon. Nerdeen Kiswani, a Palestinian-American activist, has also been targeted by Betar. The group stated in an X post: "You hate America, you hate Jews, and we are here and won’t be silent. $1,800 to anyone who hands that jihadi a beeper".[25]

The group has supported the neo-fascist Proud Boys, and indicated a desire to work with the extremist group.[6]

References

  1. ^ Marks, Joshua (2025-02-04). "Two IDF soldiers killed in Samaria terror attack". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  2. ^ Tress, Madeleine (1984). "Fascist Components in the Political Thought of Vladimir Jabotinsky". Arab Studies Quarterly. 6 (4): 304–324. ISSN 0271-3519. JSTOR 41857736.
  3. ^ "The Rise of the Right Wing in Israel : Throughline". NPR. 2024-03-07. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  4. ^ Fiennes, Guy (2025-01-10). "An overview of Israeli far-right extremism". Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  5. ^ "National Jewish Organizations". The American Jewish Year Book. 94: 493–547. 1994. ISSN 0065-8987. JSTOR 23605663.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Betar USA". Center on Extremism. Retrieved 2025-03-28.
  7. ^ "Involvement in Betar and Work with Meir Kahane". Yiddish Book Center. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
  8. ^ a b Nechin, Etan. "'Embraces Islamophobia, Harasses Muslims': ADL Lists Far-right Betar USA as Hate Group". Haaretz.
  9. ^ "Betar: Who is the far-right Jewish-American group calling for 'blood in Gaza?'". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  10. ^ Stub, Zev. "US Jewish group targets anti-Israel protesters in hopes Trump will deport them". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. OCLC 1076401854. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  11. ^ Heller, Daniel Kupfert (2012). "The rise of the Zionist right : Polish Jews and the Betar youth movement, 1922-1935". Journal of Assimilation. 1.
  12. ^ Edwards, P. G. (1970). "The Foreign Office and Fascism 1924-1929". Journal of Contemporary History. 5 (2): 153–161. doi:10.1177/002200947000500207. ISSN 0022-0094. JSTOR 259749.
  13. ^ Mark, Jonathan (2000-08-04). "It's Jabotinsky Time". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  14. ^ Herzl, Tova (2025-01-09). "Remembering Moshe Arens three years on: a politician and a mensch - opinion". The Jerusalem Post. ISSN 0792-822X. OCLC 15700704. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  15. ^ "MILITANT ZIONISTS OCCUPY U.N. ROOM". The New York Times. 1975-02-18. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  16. ^ "October 07, 1994 - Image 24". The Detroit Jewish News Digital Archives. Retrieved 2025-02-04 – via University of Michigan.
  17. ^ Norwood, Stephen H. (2013). Antisemitism and the American Far Left (1st ed.). West Nyack: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-03601-7.
  18. ^ Torossian, Ronn (2020-01-06). "Remembering Barry Liben, leader of Betar USA". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  19. ^ Zhukovsky, Novi (2025-02-02). "Zionist Organization Naming Names in Light of Trump's Executive Order Targeting Terror Sympathizers in America on Visas". The New York Sun. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  20. ^ Poulson, Jack. ""Operation Wrath of Zion" Aims to Dox and Deport Pro-Palestinian Protestors in New York City". Drop Site News. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  21. ^ Nachin, Etan (2025-01-29). "Rights Groups Worried by Calls for Jews, Israelis to Report 'pro-Hamas' Activity on U.S. Campuses". Haaretz. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  22. ^ Liu, Nicholas (2025-01-31). "A pro-Israel group says it gave the Trump administration a list of students to deport". Salon.com. OCLC 43916723. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  23. ^ Edelson, Daniel (2024-10-12). "Tensions soar at NYU after threats, vandalism tied to Zionist group". Ynet. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  24. ^ Nachmani, Avi (2024-10-11). "NYU accuses Betar of violence; Betar says it's a call for attacks on Jews". JFeed. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  25. ^ "Who are Betar, the ultra-Zionists 'threatening' Francesca Albanese?". New Arab. 18 March 2025.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Betar_US&oldid=1283619010"