Betar
Encyclopedia
The Betar Movement is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement
founded in 1923 in Riga
, Latvia
, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It has been traditionally linked to the original Herut
and then Likud
political parties of Israel
, and was closely affiliated with the pre-Israel Revisionist Zionist splinter group Irgun Zevai Leumi
. One of many movements and youth groups arising at that time out of a worldwide emergence of fascism
, Betar was founded as an application of fascist principles to Zionism, employing the requisite political tactics of radical militarism, nationalistic indoctrination of youth, and exceptionalist propaganda to achieve the maximum degree of military strength and social unity for the establishment and perpetuation of a Jewish state. Prior to the creation of Israel, Betar trained Jewish youth in many different countries to serve as militia answering solely to Revisionist Zionist leaders rather than the British Mandate or other more left-leaning Zionists. It came to produce many of the most prominent members of Zionism and politicians of Israel, most notably Prime Ministers Yitzhak Shamir
and Menachem Begin
, the latter of which idolized Jabotinsky.
Betar's militarism has seen its members (dubbed Betarim) engaged in a wide array of guerrilla, military, and terrorist actions throughout its history. The movement was part of an Irgun-led campaign to bomb clusters of Arab citizens beginning in 1937, and throughout World War II, it was a major source of recruits for both the Jewish regiments that fought the Nazis alongside the British and the Jewish forces that waged an ongoing guerrilla war against the British in Palestine. Throughout Europe, Betar militia played major roles in independently resisting Nazi forces and other various assaults on Jewish communities.
Betar champions laissez-faire
economics and has been one of the most vehement opponents of communism and unionized labor.
Joseph Trumpeldor
, the leader of the Jewish settlers that were killed by remnants of the Arab Revolt
at Tel Hai in 1920, serves as the primary role model of the Betar. A disabled man with only one arm, he led his people in the futile defense of the settlement and died with the words "Never mind, it is good to die for our country" (Hebrew: "אין דבר ,טוב למות בעד ארצנו"). This was particularly significant given that the Jews did not yet have a country - Trumpeldor was referring to sacrificing one's life in order to further the creation, or re-creation, of the state of Israel. This is the significance of the words translating to "never mind" in Shir Betar
, "The Betar Song," written by Jabotinsky. As the song depicts, Betar youth were to be as "proud, generous, and fierce (alternatively translated to 'cruel')" as Trumpeldor, and to be just as ready to sacrifice themselves for Israel.
The name Betar בית"ר refers to both the last Jewish fort
to fall in the Bar Kokhba
revolt (136 AD) and to the altered Hebrew name of "Brit Yosef Trumpeldor" ( ברית יוסף תרומפלדור ). Jabotinsky essentially changed Trumpeldor's name posthumously to produce the resulting acronym, in order to better connect Trumpeldor and the Betar movement with the ancient Jewish rebels.
Despite notable resistance from fellow Jews both Zionist and non-Zionist, Betar quickly gained a large following in Poland, Palestine, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and elsewhere. It was particularly successful in Poland, which contained the largest single Jewish settlements at the time due to the Russian pogroms
having forced all surviving Jews southwest. In 1934, Poland was home to 40,000 of Betar's 70,000 members. Routine Betar activities in Warsaw included military drilling, instruction in Hebrew, and encouragement to learn English. Militia groups organized by Betar Poland helped to defend against attacks by the anti-Semitic ONR.
The group initially praised Mussolini for his anti-communism and fascist principles, leading it to adopt the black uniform shirt of Italian fascism for a short period. Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia, however, was seen as "cowardly" by Betar and led them to break with him shortly after.
Throughout the 1930's and early 40's, Betar aided in the widespread immigration of Jews to Palestine in violation of the British Mandate's
immigration quotas, which had not increased despite the surge of refugees resulting from both Nazi oppression/genocide and a general surge of anti-Semitism around the globe. In total, Betar was responsible for the entrance of over 40,000 Jews into Palestine under such restrictions.
During World War II
, Betar members, including former Polish Army officers, founded Żydowski Związek Walki (lit. "Jewish Fighting Union") which fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
. Mordechai Anielewicz, the head of the other major uprising group, Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB, lit. "Jewish Combat Organization") also gained his military training in Betar. He was the secretary of the prominent Betar Warsaw organization in 1938 before leaving it to join, and quickly take leadership of, the left-wing Zionist Hashomer Hatzair
group in Warsaw. Jewish fighters under the leadership of Yosef Glazman, head of Betar Lithuania, battled the Nazis alongside the Lithuanian partisans in the forests of Vilnius; anti-Nazi partisans in most other nations, however, were unwilling to fight alongside Betar. The Song Of The Partisans, an anthem traditionally sung by Holocaust survivors on Yom HaShoah
, was written in memory of and dedication to Glazman.
In 1938, David Raziel became the head of both Betar and the Irgun Zevai Leumi
, AKA Etzel, AKA the National Military Organisation. The Irgun's anthem was the third and final verse of the Betar song. Raziel died shortly into World War II, taking part in a failed British sabotage mission against German interests in Iraq.
The tactics of the Irgun-Betar coalition against Palestinian Arabs mirrored the overall Zionist and Israeli strategy of overwhelming retaliation. Throughout most of the 30's and 40's, the two organizations typically bombed collections of Arab civilians in response to any attack of any kind on any Palestinian Jews. While unpalatable to many Jews in Palestine and abroad, this dramatically curtailed attacks by Arabs against Jews in the Arab Rebellion of 1937-39. The Irgun worked closely with Betar in Palestine and worldwide, particularly with respect to illegal immigration into Palestine, but they remained organizationally and structurally separate. As British policy and Jewish needs/demands grew more and more opposed to one another, Betar and the Irgun stepped up their military campaign against the British, based primarily on guerrilla tactics of sabotage and assassination.
With the outbreak of World War II, Raziel and Jabotinsky declared an unconditional ceasefire against the British, as Britain and the Zionists had a common enemy in Germany. Raziel's second-in-command, Abraham "Yair" Stern, broke away and formed the Stern Group, later renamed LEHI
(Lohamei Herut Yisrael, lit. "Freedom Fighters For Israel"), which continued to attack British targets. Radical elements of Betar joined LEHI but most stayed with the Irgun.
Future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
, who had headed Betar Poland prior to WWII, reached Palestine at the war's end and took immediate control of both Betar Palestine and the Irgun. He led the two organizations in their contribution to the war that established the de facto state of Israel, in 1948-49. Betar and the Irgun remained functionally intermingled, consistently sharing leadership and manpower. By contrast, the official defense organization of the Jewish Agency, the Haganah
and its military wing the Palmach, had practically no Betar members. In the war for Israel, almost every Jewish combatant who was hanged by the British was a member of Betar. Many were martyred in their Betar uniforms, singing either Hatikvah
(the anthem of Israel) or the Betar Song.
Members of Betar were also instrumental in setting up Israel's navy, the Israeli Sea Corps
. The first Israeli plane was flown into Palestine by Jabotinsky's son, Ari, at the time a member of the Betar World Executive.
Many of Israel's most prominent conservatives have been "graduates" of Betar, including former Prime Ministers Menachem Begin
, Yitzhak Shamir
, and Ehud Olmert
, as well as the current leader of Kadima
Tzipi Livni
, and former Defense Minister Moshe Arens
. Current Kadima
Member of the Knesset Yoel Hasson
is a former national head of Betar in Israel.
Betar has suffered a drastic decline in membership and activities since the 1970s. It remains much involved in Zionist activism, however: Tagar, Betar's young adult movement, was active on many university campuses throughout North America
during the 1980s as part of the Revisionist Zionist Association, and Betar played a major part in raising awareness of Soviet oppression of Jews and fighting for the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel. It remains relatively prominent in Australia
and in Cleveland, Ohio
.
Party, Betar's following in Israel has declined since the 1970s due to a generally transformed political landscape. One important change was the rise of religious conservatives in Israel. Though Betar had many of the same political goals as the rapidly growing Gush Emunim
(lit "Believers' Bloc") and Bnei Akiva
youth movements (tied to the National Religious Party
), they remained a secular movement and did not join the latter organizations in their taking of the contested West Bank and Gaza territories. During the 1980s, as a result of the Camp David Accords negotiated by Menachem Begin
(the leader of Herut
and its successor movement, Likud
), a similar effect took place due to the Secular Right
, as more extreme movements appeared and drew youth away from Betar.
As the Likud party under Benjamin Netanyahu
moved away from the traditional values of Revisionist Zionism
, Betar drew criticism from many Israeli conservatives who considered themselves ideological purists. Betar's position as one of the most consistent producers of powerful political figures in Israel drew accusations that it was placing partisan political expediency above greater ideological priorities. In the late 1990s, Benny Begin broke away from Likud to form Herut. Herut has continued to draw many current and prospective members of Betar.
There is an overall trend of rival youth groups drawing away Betar members. Such groups include: Hashomer Hatzair
(lit. "Young Guard" - Socialist Zionist); HaNoar haOved vehaLomed
(lit. "the Working and Learning Youth" - Labor Zionist); Habonim Dror
(lit. "Freedom Builders" - Socialist/Labor Zionist); Tzofim (lit. "Scouts"); and Bnei Akiva. Despite its legacy, Betar is best described as a marginal youth movement in both Israel and the diaspora, and has remained far from the power possessed by its parent movement Likud. Many Betar members, however, continue to hold influential political posts in both the Likud and Kadima parties.
Betar sponsors sports clubs, the most notable of which is Beitar Jerusalem football (soccer) club.
Betar Toronto currently focuses on opposing the Israeli apartheid analogy advocated by many Canadians. In February 2006 at the University of Toronto
, Tagar organized a "Know Radical Islam Week" featuring activist Nonie Darwish
, former Sudanese slave Simon Deng
, Dr. Salim Mansur
(a Muslim activist speaking on gay rights in the Middle East) and presentations by Honest Reporting
and Palestinian Media Watch
.
The event was also co-sponsored by the Toronto Secular Alliance and other allied groups. Betar has also worked in Toronto and Montreal with off-campus organizations such as the Canadian Coalition for Democracies
to promote the importance of secular and participatory politics in Canada. In March 2007, Betar-Tagar at the University of Toronto changed its name to 'Zionists at U of T'.
Betar-Tagar was active in Montreal and Toronto during the 1980s Lebanon-Israel conflict. A revival of Betar occurred in Montreal on November 9, 2006, as an event entitled "Taking Liberties: Terrorism in the West". It featured keynote speaker Dr. Salim Mansur
and was the first film screening of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
at McGill University
. It was co-organized with Conservative McGill students. Again at McGill University in March 2007, Betar Montreal held a "Radical Islam Awareness Week" very similar to the one at the University of Toronto the year before. This one also hosted Canadian lawyer and security specialist David B. Harris
and John Thompson of the Mackenzie Institute
. Concurrent with the 2007 Montreal program, Betar in Toronto held "Freedom and Democracy Week" at the University of Toronto. Speakers included co-founder of the Western Standard
newspaper Ezra Levant
and Jonah Goldberg
of the National Review
.
When Soviet Russia imprisoned the ailing Dr. Michael Shtern because his sons were openly Zionist, a group of seven Betarim from New York City traveled to Russia and offered to exchange themselves for Shtern and serve his sentence in his stead. The Russian government refused their proposal and deported them. The group was led by Fred Pierce and included Elie Yossef
and Gilad Freund.
Betar maintains a Shaliach in New York City and Cleveland, Ohio. The Cleveland chapter offers a fall and spring camp that is open to all cities. Betar offers summer and winter tours of Israel. It is one of the few movements that offer students a chance to visit the West Bank. Both programs allow students to spend time at Kedumin, Itamar, Alon Moreh, Sderot, East Jerusalem, and Hebron. They have officially adopted Kedumin as a sister city and spend an extensive time volunteering there. The winter tour is for college-age students and runs in late December.
During the period of the early to mid 90's, Ronn Torossian
served as National President and increased Betar USA membership into the hundreds. Previous leadership in the U.S. included Glenn Mones, Barry Liben, Fred Pierce (early to mid 70's), and Benny Rosen (60's).
In addition to its programs for younger students, Betar USA also has an affiliated program for college age students called Tagar.
Betar strongly promotes the emigration of American Jews to Israel.
Previous Shaliachs in the U.S. have included Sallai Meridor, former Israel Ambassador to the U.S. (late 1980s); Eli Cohen, former Israel Ambassador to Japan (early 1990s); Tova Vagimi; Sharon Tzur; Yitzhak Kerstein; Shlomo Ariav; and Shlomi Levy.
Betar UK existed in the late 1930s but had ceased functioning when the state of Israel was established. The movement's revitalization began in 1974 with Eli Joseph and the assistance of Eric Graus and George Evnine. Yisrael Medad of the World Betar Movement arrived in the UK in 1975 and built a winter camp at Sherborne School in Dorset, a summer camp in north-west France, and a two-week summer camp in Israel. Branches were opened in various locations in Greater London and elsewhere. Educational and cultural activities were organized and demonstrations were held on the themes of Soviet Jewry and Jews in Arab lands as well as on local British issues. Betar shared offices with the Herut Movement at 73, Compayne Gardens, London, at the "Tel Chai House".
is an active movement with branches in Melbourne
, Sydney
and Brisbane
. Each of these branches organizes many activities, functions, and Jewish youth camps in each state.
Betar Australia was first established in Sydney in 1924 soon after its establishment in Latvia, but it floundered at some time in the 1920s or 1930s when its leadership moved to Palestine. In 1948, Betar members from Harbin China and elsewhere reestablished Betar in Melbourne to help provide refuge for the many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who remained without assistance. Betar later expanded to Sydney, Canberra, and Brisbane. The Queensland branch celebrated its 50th reunion in 2006.
The largest Betar Australia snif (local organization) can be found in Sydney, on Australia's East Coast. Betar Sydney's maoz (home) had been located in Beit Herzl on Old South Head Road in the Eastern Suburbs
since the early 1980s, but it recently moved to a Jewish cultural center in Bondi Junction. The Sydney movement has experienced various periods of expansion and contraction, reaching its zenith in the early 1990s. During that time, winter camps regularly attracted over 220 chanichim (campers). Summer camps were also large, often held in conjunction with the rest of Betar Australia. Several federal camps were held during that time, including Jamboree in Toowoomba, Queensland. Betar Australia also holds annual seminars for senior members as well as educational and training conventions for its senior leaders.
Betar has been at the forefront of Jewish activism in Australia. Betar Australia began protesting Nazi supporters and sympathizers in 1952 when it released pigeons and stink bombs during one of the concerts of the pro-Nazi German pianist Walter Gieseking in Melbourne. The group battled neo-Nazi groups in the 1960's, and in the 70's and 80's, it spearheaded the protests of the Sydney Jewish community on behalf of Soviet Jewry. The group was instrumental in supporting the annual protest outside the Soviet Consulate in Trelawney St., Woollahra, which occurred each Pesach, and has supported mass protests outside the Bolshoi Ballet
and the Moscow Circus on Ice at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. It also protested Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze
's visit to Canberra
and Sydney. In the 1970s, the group demonstrated against a visit of the General Union of Palestine Students to the Australian Union of Students after the latter had moved to the political left. In later years, Betar Australia took the initiative to organize community protests outside the Iraqi Embassy in Canberra during the First Gulf War and outside the Iranian Embassy to protest Iranian state sponsorship of terrorism. The group also marched in front of the German Consulate in Sydney to protest what it perceived to be a resurgence of anti-Semitism in postwar Germany. In 2004, Betar Sydney was active in protesting Dr. Hanan Ashrawi's receiving of the Sydney Premier's peace prize.
Australia Betarim very often emigrate to Israel and maintain close relations between the two nations. Betar Australia sends several members to Israel's hasbarah programs each year.
Zionist youth movement
A Zionist youth movement is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, including a belief in Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel...
founded in 1923 in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It has been traditionally linked to the original Herut
Herut
Herut was the major right-wing political party in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.-History:...
and then Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
political parties of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and was closely affiliated with the pre-Israel Revisionist Zionist splinter group Irgun Zevai Leumi
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
. One of many movements and youth groups arising at that time out of a worldwide emergence of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, Betar was founded as an application of fascist principles to Zionism, employing the requisite political tactics of radical militarism, nationalistic indoctrination of youth, and exceptionalist propaganda to achieve the maximum degree of military strength and social unity for the establishment and perpetuation of a Jewish state. Prior to the creation of Israel, Betar trained Jewish youth in many different countries to serve as militia answering solely to Revisionist Zionist leaders rather than the British Mandate or other more left-leaning Zionists. It came to produce many of the most prominent members of Zionism and politicians of Israel, most notably Prime Ministers Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir
' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...
and Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
, the latter of which idolized Jabotinsky.
Betar's militarism has seen its members (dubbed Betarim) engaged in a wide array of guerrilla, military, and terrorist actions throughout its history. The movement was part of an Irgun-led campaign to bomb clusters of Arab citizens beginning in 1937, and throughout World War II, it was a major source of recruits for both the Jewish regiments that fought the Nazis alongside the British and the Jewish forces that waged an ongoing guerrilla war against the British in Palestine. Throughout Europe, Betar militia played major roles in independently resisting Nazi forces and other various assaults on Jewish communities.
Betar champions laissez-faire
Laissez-faire
In economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....
economics and has been one of the most vehement opponents of communism and unionized labor.
History
Betar was founded by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky at a meeting of Jewish youth in Riga, Latvia, arranged by Aaron Propes in 1923. Here Jabotinsky spoke of the Arab attacks on the settlement of Tel Hai and other Jewish settlements in the Galilee. Jabotinsky believed that these incidents were indicative of threats to the Jewish Palestinians that could only be addressed by the recreation of the ancient Jewish state of Israel extending across the entirety of both Palestine and Jordan, which is the defining philosophy of Revisionist Zionism. He proposed the creation of Betar to foster a new generation of Jews thoroughly indoctrinated in these nationalist ideals and trained for military action against all enemies of Judaism.Joseph Trumpeldor
Joseph Trumpeldor
Joseph Trumpeldor , was an early Zionist activist. He helped organize the Zion Mule Corps and bring Jewish immigrants to the Land of Israel. Trumpeldor died defending the settlement of Tel Hai in 1920 and subsequently became a Zionist national hero...
, the leader of the Jewish settlers that were killed by remnants of the Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
at Tel Hai in 1920, serves as the primary role model of the Betar. A disabled man with only one arm, he led his people in the futile defense of the settlement and died with the words "Never mind, it is good to die for our country" (Hebrew: "אין דבר ,טוב למות בעד ארצנו"). This was particularly significant given that the Jews did not yet have a country - Trumpeldor was referring to sacrificing one's life in order to further the creation, or re-creation, of the state of Israel. This is the significance of the words translating to "never mind" in Shir Betar
Shir Betar
Shir Betar is a poem written by the Zionist leader Zeev Jabotinsky in Paris in 1932. The Shir Betar was immediately adopted as the song of the Zionist youth movement Betar. Through the Shir Betar, Jabotinsky made a call to all Jews to recover their self-esteem and to actively participate in the...
, "The Betar Song," written by Jabotinsky. As the song depicts, Betar youth were to be as "proud, generous, and fierce (alternatively translated to 'cruel')" as Trumpeldor, and to be just as ready to sacrifice themselves for Israel.
The name Betar בית"ר refers to both the last Jewish fort
Betar (fortress)
The Betar Fortress was the last standing Jewish fortress in the Bar Kochba revolt of the 2nd century CE, destroyed by the Roman army of Emperor Hadrian in the year 135...
to fall in the Bar Kokhba
Bar Kokhba
Bar Kokhba is a name of Simon bar Kokhba, the leader of the Bar Kokhba's revolt, the second of the Jewish-Roman Wars.Bar Kokhba may also refer to:...
revolt (136 AD) and to the altered Hebrew name of "Brit Yosef Trumpeldor" ( ברית יוסף תרומפלדור ). Jabotinsky essentially changed Trumpeldor's name posthumously to produce the resulting acronym, in order to better connect Trumpeldor and the Betar movement with the ancient Jewish rebels.
Despite notable resistance from fellow Jews both Zionist and non-Zionist, Betar quickly gained a large following in Poland, Palestine, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and elsewhere. It was particularly successful in Poland, which contained the largest single Jewish settlements at the time due to the Russian pogroms
Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire
The term pogrom as a reference to large-scale, targeted, and repeated antisemitic rioting saw its first use in the 19th century.The first pogrom is often considered to be the 1821 Odessa pogroms after the death of the Greek Orthodox patriarch Gregory V in Constantinople, in which 14 Jews were killed...
having forced all surviving Jews southwest. In 1934, Poland was home to 40,000 of Betar's 70,000 members. Routine Betar activities in Warsaw included military drilling, instruction in Hebrew, and encouragement to learn English. Militia groups organized by Betar Poland helped to defend against attacks by the anti-Semitic ONR.
The group initially praised Mussolini for his anti-communism and fascist principles, leading it to adopt the black uniform shirt of Italian fascism for a short period. Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia, however, was seen as "cowardly" by Betar and led them to break with him shortly after.
Throughout the 1930's and early 40's, Betar aided in the widespread immigration of Jews to Palestine in violation of the British Mandate's
British Mandate
British Mandate may refer to:*British Mandate for Palestine*British Mandate of Mesopotamia...
immigration quotas, which had not increased despite the surge of refugees resulting from both Nazi oppression/genocide and a general surge of anti-Semitism around the globe. In total, Betar was responsible for the entrance of over 40,000 Jews into Palestine under such restrictions.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Betar members, including former Polish Army officers, founded Żydowski Związek Walki (lit. "Jewish Fighting Union") which fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
. Mordechai Anielewicz, the head of the other major uprising group, Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB, lit. "Jewish Combat Organization") also gained his military training in Betar. He was the secretary of the prominent Betar Warsaw organization in 1938 before leaving it to join, and quickly take leadership of, the left-wing Zionist Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
group in Warsaw. Jewish fighters under the leadership of Yosef Glazman, head of Betar Lithuania, battled the Nazis alongside the Lithuanian partisans in the forests of Vilnius; anti-Nazi partisans in most other nations, however, were unwilling to fight alongside Betar. The Song Of The Partisans, an anthem traditionally sung by Holocaust survivors on Yom HaShoah
Yom HaShoah
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah , known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews and five million others who perished in the...
, was written in memory of and dedication to Glazman.
In 1938, David Raziel became the head of both Betar and the Irgun Zevai Leumi
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
, AKA Etzel, AKA the National Military Organisation. The Irgun's anthem was the third and final verse of the Betar song. Raziel died shortly into World War II, taking part in a failed British sabotage mission against German interests in Iraq.
The tactics of the Irgun-Betar coalition against Palestinian Arabs mirrored the overall Zionist and Israeli strategy of overwhelming retaliation. Throughout most of the 30's and 40's, the two organizations typically bombed collections of Arab civilians in response to any attack of any kind on any Palestinian Jews. While unpalatable to many Jews in Palestine and abroad, this dramatically curtailed attacks by Arabs against Jews in the Arab Rebellion of 1937-39. The Irgun worked closely with Betar in Palestine and worldwide, particularly with respect to illegal immigration into Palestine, but they remained organizationally and structurally separate. As British policy and Jewish needs/demands grew more and more opposed to one another, Betar and the Irgun stepped up their military campaign against the British, based primarily on guerrilla tactics of sabotage and assassination.
With the outbreak of World War II, Raziel and Jabotinsky declared an unconditional ceasefire against the British, as Britain and the Zionists had a common enemy in Germany. Raziel's second-in-command, Abraham "Yair" Stern, broke away and formed the Stern Group, later renamed LEHI
Lehi
Lehi refers to:In Mormonism:* Lehi , a prophet in the Book of Mormon of the 7th-6th centuries BC* Lehi, son of Helaman, another prophet in the Book of Mormon of the late 1st century BC...
(Lohamei Herut Yisrael, lit. "Freedom Fighters For Israel"), which continued to attack British targets. Radical elements of Betar joined LEHI but most stayed with the Irgun.
Future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
, who had headed Betar Poland prior to WWII, reached Palestine at the war's end and took immediate control of both Betar Palestine and the Irgun. He led the two organizations in their contribution to the war that established the de facto state of Israel, in 1948-49. Betar and the Irgun remained functionally intermingled, consistently sharing leadership and manpower. By contrast, the official defense organization of the Jewish Agency, the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
and its military wing the Palmach, had practically no Betar members. In the war for Israel, almost every Jewish combatant who was hanged by the British was a member of Betar. Many were martyred in their Betar uniforms, singing either Hatikvah
Hatikvah
"Hatikvah" is the national anthem of Israel. The anthem was written by Naphtali Herz Imber, a secular Galician Jew from Zolochiv , who moved to the Land of Israel in the early 1880s....
(the anthem of Israel) or the Betar Song.
Members of Betar were also instrumental in setting up Israel's navy, the Israeli Sea Corps
Israeli Sea Corps
The Israeli Navy is the naval arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea theater as well as the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea theater. The current commander in chief of the Israeli Navy is Aluf Ram Rothberg.-History:...
. The first Israeli plane was flown into Palestine by Jabotinsky's son, Ari, at the time a member of the Betar World Executive.
Many of Israel's most prominent conservatives have been "graduates" of Betar, including former Prime Ministers Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
, Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir
' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...
, and Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
, as well as the current leader of Kadima
Kadima
Kadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians...
Tzipi Livni
Tzipi Livni
Tzipporah Malkah "Tzipi" Livni is an Israeli lawyer and politician. She is the current Israeli Opposition Leader and leader of Kadima, the largest party in the Knesset. Raised an ardent nationalist, Livni has become one of her nation's leading voices for the two-state solution. In Israel she has...
, and former Defense Minister Moshe Arens
Moshe Arens
Moshe Arens is an Israeli aeronautical engineer, researcher and former diplomat and politician. A member of the Knesset between 1973 and 1992 and again from 1999 until 2003, he served as Minister of Defense three times and once as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Arens has also served as the Israeli...
. Current Kadima
Kadima
Kadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians...
Member of the Knesset Yoel Hasson
Yoel Hasson
Yoel Hasson is an Israeli politician and a member of the Knesset for Kadima.-Biography:Born in Tel Aviv, Hasson studied for a BA in government and public policy at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. He joined the Betar movement, and was head of the national leadership of its youth movement...
is a former national head of Betar in Israel.
Betar has suffered a drastic decline in membership and activities since the 1970s. It remains much involved in Zionist activism, however: Tagar, Betar's young adult movement, was active on many university campuses throughout North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
during the 1980s as part of the Revisionist Zionist Association, and Betar played a major part in raising awareness of Soviet oppression of Jews and fighting for the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel. It remains relatively prominent in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and in Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
.
Israel
Once a vibrant movement tied to the opposition HerutHerut
Herut was the major right-wing political party in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.-History:...
Party, Betar's following in Israel has declined since the 1970s due to a generally transformed political landscape. One important change was the rise of religious conservatives in Israel. Though Betar had many of the same political goals as the rapidly growing Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim was an Israeli messianic and political movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While not formally established as an organization until 1974 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Gush Emunim sprang out of the conquests of the Six-Day War in 1967, encouraging...
(lit "Believers' Bloc") and Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 37 countries. It was established in Mandate Palestine in 1929.-History:...
youth movements (tied to the National Religious Party
National Religious Party
The National Religious Party ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008, it was the second oldest surviving party in the country after Agudat Yisrael, and was part of every government coalition until 1992...
), they remained a secular movement and did not join the latter organizations in their taking of the contested West Bank and Gaza territories. During the 1980s, as a result of the Camp David Accords negotiated by Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
(the leader of Herut
Herut
Herut was the major right-wing political party in Israel from the 1940s until its formal merger into Likud in 1988, and an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.-History:...
and its successor movement, Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
), a similar effect took place due to the Secular Right
Secular right
In American politics, the term Secular Right refers to but is not exclusive to the libertarian, socially liberal or non-religious wing of most conservative movements or parties...
, as more extreme movements appeared and drew youth away from Betar.
As the Likud party under Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
moved away from the traditional values of Revisionist Zionism
Revisionist Zionism
Revisionist Zionism is a nationalist faction within the Zionist movement. It is the founding ideology of the non-religious right in Israel, and was the chief ideological competitor to the dominant socialist Labor Zionism...
, Betar drew criticism from many Israeli conservatives who considered themselves ideological purists. Betar's position as one of the most consistent producers of powerful political figures in Israel drew accusations that it was placing partisan political expediency above greater ideological priorities. In the late 1990s, Benny Begin broke away from Likud to form Herut. Herut has continued to draw many current and prospective members of Betar.
There is an overall trend of rival youth groups drawing away Betar members. Such groups include: Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
(lit. "Young Guard" - Socialist Zionist); HaNoar haOved vehaLomed
Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed
Histadrut HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed , sometimes abbreiviated to No'al is an Israeli youth movement, a sister movement of Habonim Dror, the Labor Zionist movement....
(lit. "the Working and Learning Youth" - Labor Zionist); Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror is a Jewish Labour Zionist youth movement formed by the merger in 1982 of the Habonim and Dror youth movements. Habonim Dror's sister movement in Israel is Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, the Working and Studying Youth.-Ideology:...
(lit. "Freedom Builders" - Socialist/Labor Zionist); Tzofim (lit. "Scouts"); and Bnei Akiva. Despite its legacy, Betar is best described as a marginal youth movement in both Israel and the diaspora, and has remained far from the power possessed by its parent movement Likud. Many Betar members, however, continue to hold influential political posts in both the Likud and Kadima parties.
Betar sponsors sports clubs, the most notable of which is Beitar Jerusalem football (soccer) club.
Canada
Betar maintains a Shaliach (Jewish legal agency) in Toronto.Betar Toronto currently focuses on opposing the Israeli apartheid analogy advocated by many Canadians. In February 2006 at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, Tagar organized a "Know Radical Islam Week" featuring activist Nonie Darwish
Nonie Darwish
Nonie Darwish is an Egyptian-American human rights activist, and founder of Arabs For Israel, and is Director of Former Muslims United. She is the author of two books: Now They Call Me Infidel; Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror and Cruel and Usual Punishment: The...
, former Sudanese slave Simon Deng
Simon Deng
Simon Aban Deng is a Sudanese human rights activist living in the United States. He is a victim of child slavery. A native of the Shilluk Kingdom in southern Sudan, Deng spent several years as a domestic slave in southern Sudan.-Biography:...
, Dr. Salim Mansur
Salim Mansur
Salim Mansur is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He is a columnist for the London Free Press and the Toronto Sun, and has contributed to various publications including National Review, the Middle East Forum and Frontpagemag. He often...
(a Muslim activist speaking on gay rights in the Middle East) and presentations by Honest Reporting
Honest Reporting
HonestReporting is a non-governmental organization that monitors the media for what it perceives as bias against Israel. The organization has affiliates in the United States, UK, Canada, Italy, and Brazil...
and Palestinian Media Watch
Palestinian Media Watch
Palestinian Media Watch is an Israel-based media watchdog organization. Established by Itamar Marcus in 1996, PMW monitors Palestinian Arabic media and schoolbooks....
.
The event was also co-sponsored by the Toronto Secular Alliance and other allied groups. Betar has also worked in Toronto and Montreal with off-campus organizations such as the Canadian Coalition for Democracies
Canadian Coalition for Democracies
The Canadian Coalition for Democracies was a Canadian political action organization that advocated greater support for Israel, India, and minorities in the Muslim world such as Christians, Copts, Bahá'ís, Assyrians, and Ismailis....
to promote the importance of secular and participatory politics in Canada. In March 2007, Betar-Tagar at the University of Toronto changed its name to 'Zionists at U of T'.
Betar-Tagar was active in Montreal and Toronto during the 1980s Lebanon-Israel conflict. A revival of Betar occurred in Montreal on November 9, 2006, as an event entitled "Taking Liberties: Terrorism in the West". It featured keynote speaker Dr. Salim Mansur
Salim Mansur
Salim Mansur is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He is a columnist for the London Free Press and the Toronto Sun, and has contributed to various publications including National Review, the Middle East Forum and Frontpagemag. He often...
and was the first film screening of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2005 documentary film about the perceived threat of radical Islam to Western civilization. Using extensive Arab television footage it claims to give an 'insider's view' of the hatred preached by radicals to incite global...
at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. It was co-organized with Conservative McGill students. Again at McGill University in March 2007, Betar Montreal held a "Radical Islam Awareness Week" very similar to the one at the University of Toronto the year before. This one also hosted Canadian lawyer and security specialist David B. Harris
David B. Harris
David B. Harris is a Canadian lawyer. He is a former contractor with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service where he served as a senior manager between 1988-1990. Now working as a consultant, he is a regular commentator on issues of terrorism...
and John Thompson of the Mackenzie Institute
Mackenzie Institute
The Mackenzie Institute for the Study of Terrorism, Revolution and Propaganda is a think tank in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1986 by Brigadier Dr. Maurice Tugwell, a former Parachute Regiment officer and British Army veteran of WW-2, Palestine , the Malayian insurgency, Cyprus and Ulster...
. Concurrent with the 2007 Montreal program, Betar in Toronto held "Freedom and Democracy Week" at the University of Toronto. Speakers included co-founder of the Western Standard
Western Standard
The Western Standard is a Calgary, Alberta-based libertarian-conservative publication that billed itself as Canada's only conservative national news magazine...
newspaper Ezra Levant
Ezra Levant
Ezra Isaac Levant is a Canadian lawyer, conservative political activist and media figure. He is the founder and former publisher of the Western Standard, hosts The Source daily on Sun News Network, and has written several books on politics....
and Jonah Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Jonah Jacob Goldberg is an American conservative syndicated columnist and author. Goldberg is known for his contributions on politics and culture to , of which he is editor-at-large...
of the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
.
United States
The first branch of Betar in the United States was founded in October 1929, led principally by Joseph Beder, William Katz, Haim Messer and Israel Posnansky. Beder had visited Palestine under the Mandate in the spring of 1929 and come in contact with Betar members there. The first activity of Betar USA was a Chanukah party alongside local branches which existed already in eastern New York and the Lower East Side.When Soviet Russia imprisoned the ailing Dr. Michael Shtern because his sons were openly Zionist, a group of seven Betarim from New York City traveled to Russia and offered to exchange themselves for Shtern and serve his sentence in his stead. The Russian government refused their proposal and deported them. The group was led by Fred Pierce and included Elie Yossef
Elie Yossef
Elie Yossef is a London-born Israeli educator and political activist.Eli Yossef grew up in London and attended the Hasmonean High School where he established Betar England in 1973. In 1975, Yossef came on Aliyah to Israel and served in the Golani and Paratroopers brigades of the Israel Defense...
and Gilad Freund.
Betar maintains a Shaliach in New York City and Cleveland, Ohio. The Cleveland chapter offers a fall and spring camp that is open to all cities. Betar offers summer and winter tours of Israel. It is one of the few movements that offer students a chance to visit the West Bank. Both programs allow students to spend time at Kedumin, Itamar, Alon Moreh, Sderot, East Jerusalem, and Hebron. They have officially adopted Kedumin as a sister city and spend an extensive time volunteering there. The winter tour is for college-age students and runs in late December.
During the period of the early to mid 90's, Ronn Torossian
Ronn Torossian
Ronn D. Torossian is an American public relations executive, author, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of New York City-based 5W Public Relations , which as of 2010 was the 24th-largest PR firm in the US. A crisis management specialist, his agency's clients include celebrities, hip-hop musicians...
served as National President and increased Betar USA membership into the hundreds. Previous leadership in the U.S. included Glenn Mones, Barry Liben, Fred Pierce (early to mid 70's), and Benny Rosen (60's).
In addition to its programs for younger students, Betar USA also has an affiliated program for college age students called Tagar.
Betar strongly promotes the emigration of American Jews to Israel.
Previous Shaliachs in the U.S. have included Sallai Meridor, former Israel Ambassador to the U.S. (late 1980s); Eli Cohen, former Israel Ambassador to Japan (early 1990s); Tova Vagimi; Sharon Tzur; Yitzhak Kerstein; Shlomo Ariav; and Shlomi Levy.
United Kingdom
Betar UK is an active group of over 100 members, headquartered in London. It is involved in Zionist activism including martial arts training, government lobbying, criticism of national media, and pro-Israel demonstrations. Anti-Zionist demonstrations and pickets occur every week outside the Marks & Spencer on Oxford Street, and Betar UK has organized a counter-demonstration each week for the past 5 years.Betar UK existed in the late 1930s but had ceased functioning when the state of Israel was established. The movement's revitalization began in 1974 with Eli Joseph and the assistance of Eric Graus and George Evnine. Yisrael Medad of the World Betar Movement arrived in the UK in 1975 and built a winter camp at Sherborne School in Dorset, a summer camp in north-west France, and a two-week summer camp in Israel. Branches were opened in various locations in Greater London and elsewhere. Educational and cultural activities were organized and demonstrations were held on the themes of Soviet Jewry and Jews in Arab lands as well as on local British issues. Betar shared offices with the Herut Movement at 73, Compayne Gardens, London, at the "Tel Chai House".
Australia
Betar AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
is an active movement with branches in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. Each of these branches organizes many activities, functions, and Jewish youth camps in each state.
Betar Australia was first established in Sydney in 1924 soon after its establishment in Latvia, but it floundered at some time in the 1920s or 1930s when its leadership moved to Palestine. In 1948, Betar members from Harbin China and elsewhere reestablished Betar in Melbourne to help provide refuge for the many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who remained without assistance. Betar later expanded to Sydney, Canberra, and Brisbane. The Queensland branch celebrated its 50th reunion in 2006.
The largest Betar Australia snif (local organization) can be found in Sydney, on Australia's East Coast. Betar Sydney's maoz (home) had been located in Beit Herzl on Old South Head Road in the Eastern Suburbs
Eastern Suburbs (Sydney)
The Eastern Suburbs is a general term used to describe the metropolitan area directly to the east and south-east of the Sydney central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Suburbs can refer to the suburbs within the local government areas of Woollahra, Waverley, Dover...
since the early 1980s, but it recently moved to a Jewish cultural center in Bondi Junction. The Sydney movement has experienced various periods of expansion and contraction, reaching its zenith in the early 1990s. During that time, winter camps regularly attracted over 220 chanichim (campers). Summer camps were also large, often held in conjunction with the rest of Betar Australia. Several federal camps were held during that time, including Jamboree in Toowoomba, Queensland. Betar Australia also holds annual seminars for senior members as well as educational and training conventions for its senior leaders.
Betar has been at the forefront of Jewish activism in Australia. Betar Australia began protesting Nazi supporters and sympathizers in 1952 when it released pigeons and stink bombs during one of the concerts of the pro-Nazi German pianist Walter Gieseking in Melbourne. The group battled neo-Nazi groups in the 1960's, and in the 70's and 80's, it spearheaded the protests of the Sydney Jewish community on behalf of Soviet Jewry. The group was instrumental in supporting the annual protest outside the Soviet Consulate in Trelawney St., Woollahra, which occurred each Pesach, and has supported mass protests outside the Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Ballet
The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies, however it only achieved worldwide acclaim by the early 20th century, when Moscow became the...
and the Moscow Circus on Ice at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. It also protested Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
's visit to Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
and Sydney. In the 1970s, the group demonstrated against a visit of the General Union of Palestine Students to the Australian Union of Students after the latter had moved to the political left. In later years, Betar Australia took the initiative to organize community protests outside the Iraqi Embassy in Canberra during the First Gulf War and outside the Iranian Embassy to protest Iranian state sponsorship of terrorism. The group also marched in front of the German Consulate in Sydney to protest what it perceived to be a resurgence of anti-Semitism in postwar Germany. In 2004, Betar Sydney was active in protesting Dr. Hanan Ashrawi's receiving of the Sydney Premier's peace prize.
Australia Betarim very often emigrate to Israel and maintain close relations between the two nations. Betar Australia sends several members to Israel's hasbarah programs each year.
South Africa
Once the largest youth movement in the nation, Betar South Africa has since dwindled greatly. Headquartered in Johannesburg, the group hosts a 3-week summer camp each December and continues annual programs to send youth to Israel. Like Betar Australia, Betar South Africa sees many of its members permanently emigrate to Israel.See also
- IrgunIrgunThe Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
- Betar Naval AcademyBetar Naval AcademyThe Betar Naval Academy was a Jewish naval training school established in Civitavecchia, Italy in 1934 by the Revisionist Zionist movement under the direction of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, with tha agreement of Benito Mussolini....
- KadimaKadimaKadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians...
- LikudLikudLikud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
- Revisionist ZionismRevisionist ZionismRevisionist Zionism is a nationalist faction within the Zionist movement. It is the founding ideology of the non-religious right in Israel, and was the chief ideological competitor to the dominant socialist Labor Zionism...
- Ze'ev Jabotinsky
- Shir BetarShir BetarShir Betar is a poem written by the Zionist leader Zeev Jabotinsky in Paris in 1932. The Shir Betar was immediately adopted as the song of the Zionist youth movement Betar. Through the Shir Betar, Jabotinsky made a call to all Jews to recover their self-esteem and to actively participate in the...
- Zionist youth movementZionist youth movementA Zionist youth movement is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, including a belief in Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel...
- Betar Jerusalem FC
- Ronn Torossian
- The East Bank of the JordanThe East Bank of the JordanThe East of the Jordan is a poem written by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, the Revisionist Zionist leader, a song that became one of the most known leading national anthems of the Revisionist Zionist youth movement, Betar. The song includes four Stanzas...
(also known as "Two Banks has the Jordan"), a poem by Ze'ev Jabotinsky that became the slogan and one of the most famous songs of Betar