Betar

Betar / Beitar
בית"ר‎
Named after	Joseph Trumpeldor and Betar fortress
Formation	1923, Riga, Latvia
Type	Jewish Youth paramilitary organization
Purpose	Activism and advocacy
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	21,000
General Director	Nerya Meir

The Betar Movement (Hebrew: תנועת בית״ר), also spelled Beitar (בית"ר), is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky.^[1] It was one of several right-wing youth movements that arose at that time and adopted special salutes and uniforms influenced by fascism.^[2]

During World War II, Betar was a source of recruits for both Jewish regiments that fought alongside the British and Jewish groups fighting the British in Mandatory Palestine. Betar was traditionally linked^{[clarification needed]} to the original Herut and then Likud political parties of Jewish pioneers, and was closely affiliated with the Revisionist Zionist militant group Irgun.^[2] Some of Israel's most prominent politicians were members of Betar (Betarim) in their youth, notably Prime Ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin.^[3]

The group has faced controversy over its support for Zionist terrorism and Kahanism, a movement that calls for segregation of non-Jews.^[4] The organization, which the Israeli newspaper Haaretz says is tied to Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, has been blacklisted by the Anti-Defamation League for its embrace of "Islamophobia [and] harras[ing] Muslims".^[5]^[6]

^ Puchalski, P. (2018). "Review: Jabotinsky's Children: Polish Jews and the Rise of Right-Wing Zionism". The Polish Review. 63 (3). University of Illinois Press: 88–91. doi:10.5406/polishreview.63.3.0088. JSTOR 10.5406/polishreview.63.3.0088.
^ ^a ^b Smith, Charles D. (2004). Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's. p. 115. ISBN 0-312-40408-5. [Jabotinsky] formed youth groups (Betar) whose practices, patterned after the tactics and symbols of fascism, included wearing brown shirts and using special salutes.
^ Smith, Charles D. (2004). Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's. p. 138. ISBN 0-312-40408-5. Begin... adhered to his Revisionist ideology throughout his life... He idolized Jabotinsky and served as an officer in the Betar militia in Poland during the 1930s.
^ "Involvement in Betar and Work with Meir Kahane | Yiddish Book Center". www.yiddishbookcenter.org. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
^ Nechin, Etan. "'Embraces Islamophobia, Harasses Muslims': ADL Lists Far-right Betar USA as Hate Group". Haaretz.
^ "Betar: Who is the far-right Jewish-American group calling for 'blood in Gaza?'". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 27 February 2025.

[1] Puchalski, P. (2018). "Review: Jabotinsky's Children: Polish Jews and the Rise of Right-Wing Zionism". The Polish Review. 63 (3). University of Illinois Press: 88–91. doi:10.5406/polishreview.63.3.0088. JSTOR 10.5406/polishreview.63.3.0088.

[Smith2004-2] Smith, Charles D. (2004). Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's. p. 115. ISBN 0-312-40408-5. [Jabotinsky] formed youth groups (Betar) whose practices, patterned after the tactics and symbols of fascism, included wearing brown shirts and using special salutes.

[3] Smith, Charles D. (2004). Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's. p. 138. ISBN 0-312-40408-5. Begin... adhered to his Revisionist ideology throughout his life... He idolized Jabotinsky and served as an officer in the Betar militia in Poland during the 1930s.

[4] "Involvement in Betar and Work with Meir Kahane | Yiddish Book Center". www.yiddishbookcenter.org. Retrieved 2025-02-24.

[5] Nechin, Etan. "'Embraces Islamophobia, Harasses Muslims': ADL Lists Far-right Betar USA as Hate Group". Haaretz.

[6] "Betar: Who is the far-right Jewish-American group calling for 'blood in Gaza?'". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 27 February 2025.

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