| Betar US | |
|---|---|
| בית"ר כינה | |
| Founder | Ze'ev Jabotinsky |
| Leader | Ross Glick[1] |
| Foundation | 1929 (original) 2023 (current) |
| Country | United States |
| Ideology | Religious Zionism Anti-antisemitism Kahanism Jewish fascism(alleged)[2] |
| Political position | Right-wing[3] tofar-right[4] |
| Website | betarus |
Betar US (Hebrew:בית"ר כינה,romanized: Beitar Kina) also known asBetar USA (Hebrew:בית"ר אַרצוֹת הַבְּרִית,romanized: Beitar Eretzot Habrit) is a radical pro-Israel group in the United States. A sector of the paramilitaryRevisionist ZionistBetar Movement,[5] the group was revived in the U.S. in June 2023 and supported Israel during theGaza war. It was led by Ross Glick.[6] Betar US has been blacklisted by theAnti-Defamation League (ADL) for its embrace of "Islamophobia [and] harras[ing] Muslims."[7][8][9] According to the ADL, the group which self-describes itself as "vandals", has faced controversy over its support forZionist terrorism andKahanism, a movement that calls for thereligious segregation of non-Jews.[9][10]
Betar was established in 1923 byZe'ev Jabotinsky and the United States sector was established in 1929.[11] It was described as a "Jewish Fascist" organization andfar-right, and had supposed ties tofascist Italy during the time of its rise and establishment.[12] This was due to some democratic countries taking certain inspiration from the ideologies of fascist Italy andBenito Mussolini.[13]
By 1951,Moshe Arens became the leader of the Betar US after graduating as a Betar student.[14] He was a member of Betar since he was a teenager.[15]
In 1975, members of Betar US alongside its leader Barry Liben, occupied theUnited Nations building in response to how theSoviet Union was treating Jewish citizens who were refusing to let its Jewish citizens to makeAliyah.[16]
From 1994[17] to 1996,Ronn Torossian led Betar US after being a member of the organization for 10 years.[18]
On January 2, 2020, the past leader of Betar US, Barry Liben, died inNew York City.[19]
According toHaaretz, it is tied toBenjamin Netanyahu'sLikud party.[7]
Betar US was revived in June 2023.[9] After theOctober 7 attacks, Betar US gained prominence for its approach againstpro-Palestinianism andantisemitism online and in real life.[20] It encouragesmasked “aggressive in-person protests” and vandalism (self-describing itself as vandals), and has protested againstmosques and vandalizedPalestinian flags.[9]
After the2024 presidential elections in the United States, its newly electedpresident,Donald Trump, signed anexecutive order to deport college students who were ongreen cards andvisas who showed support forHamas and other organizations on theUnited States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. This led Betar US to create "Operation Wrath of Zion" which is adoxing campaign to find the personal details of college students who attendedpro-Palestine protests and showed what they described as antisemitic and pro-Hamas rhetoric.[21] They called forJews in the United States and Israelis to report all "pro-Hamas" students to either Betar or theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) so they can get deported.[22] 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 byImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).[23]
During counter protests at theNew York University, Betar US vandalized the university’sInstitute for the Study of the Ancient World area withZionist andanti-Arab slogans.[24] In October 2024, the New York University spokesperson condemned Betar for social media posts calling for violent acts.[25]
The group has supported theneo-fascistProud Boys,[clarification needed] and indicated a desire to work with the extremist group.[9]
In 2025, Betar US started what was dubbed the "Pager Campaign" following Israel’s2024 Lebanon electronic device attacks, where members put pagers in the pockets of or threatened to give pagers to people they perceived as anti-Israel – targeting prominent personalities like United Nations secretary-generalAntónio Guterres, Jewish writerPeter Beinart,[26] and Jewish political scientistNorman Finkelstein. Beinart characterized it as adeath threat.[27][28]
Betar made a threat of a pager attack againstFrancesca Albanese, theUN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, when she was going to visitLondon. In a social media post the group wrote: "Join us to give Francesca a [pager emoji] in London on Tuesday."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 thatjihadi a beeper".[29]
