Betar
| 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 |
| Website | betar |
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. It was one of several right-wing youth movements that arose at that time and adopted special salutes and uniforms influenced by fascism.
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 to the original Herut and then Likud political parties of Jewish pioneers, and was closely affiliated with the Revisionist Zionist militant group Irgun. Some of Israel's most prominent politicians were members of Betar (Betarim) in their youth, notably Prime Ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin.
The group has faced controversy over its support for Zionist terrorism and Kahanism, a movement that calls for segregation of non-Jews. 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".