The Betar Movement (), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky.
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.
Etymology The name Betar () refers both to Betar (fortress), the last Jewish fort to fall in the Bar Kokhba revolt, and to the altered abbreviation of the Hebrew name of the organisation, "Berit Trumpeldor" or "Brit Yosef Trumpeldor" (, Joseph Trumpeldor Alliance), named after Joseph Trumpeldor. Although Trumpeldor's name is properly spelt with tet (), it was written with taf () so as to produce the acronym.
History
Founding and ideology
Ze'ev Jabotinsky founded Betar at a meeting of Jewish youth in Riga, Latvia, arranged by in 1923. Jabotinsky spoke of the Arab attacks on the settlement of Tel Hai and other Jewish settlements in the Galilee. He believed that these incidents indicated serious threats to the Jewish Palestinians and could only be addressed by the recreation of the ancient Jewish state of Israel, extending across the entirety of both Palestine and Jordan. This is the defining philosophy of Revisionist Zionism. Jabotinsky proposed creating Betar to foster a new generation of Jews thoroughly indoctrinated in these nationalist ideals and trained for military action against all enemies of Judaism. In 1931, Jabotinsky was elected rosh Betar ("head of Betar") at the first world conference in Danzig.JewishVirtualLibrary, BETAR
Joseph Trumpeldor, the leader of the Jewish settlers who were killed at Tel Hai in 1920, served as Betar's primary role model. A disabled man with only one arm, he led his people in the futile defense of the settlement and reportedly 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 to further the establishment of an independent Jewish state. The words of Shir Betar ("The Betar Song"), written by Jabotinsky, include a line that quotes Trumpeldor's last words of "never mind". As the song expresses, Betar youth were to be as "proud, generous, and fierce [alternately translated as 'cruel']" as Trumpeldor, and as ready to sacrifice themselves for Israel.
Expansion and pre-war activities
Despite resistance from both Zionist and non-Zionist Jews, Betar quickly gained a large following in Poland, Palestine, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and elsewhere. It was particularly successful in Poland, which had Europe's largest Jewish population at the time.
It was one of several right-wing youth movements that arose at that time and adopted special salutes and uniforms influenced by fascism.
In 1934, Poland was home to 40,000 of Betar's 70,000 members.Shavit, Jacob. Jabotinsky and the revisionist movement, 1925–1948: The Right in Zionism and in Israel, 1925–1985. by Routledge, 1988. Page 55. Routine Betar activities in Warsaw included military drilling, Hebrew instruction, and encouragement to learn English. Militia groups organized by Betar Poland helped to defend against attacks by the anti-Semitic ONR.Melzer, Emanuel. No Way Out: The Politics of Polish Jewry, 1935–1939. Hebrew Union College Press, 1997. Pages 7, 169. The interwar Polish government helped Betar with military training.Shapiro, Yonathan. The Road to Power: Herut Party in Israel, p. 36 Some members admired the Polish nationalist camp and imitated some of its aspects.Reinharz, Jehuda. Living With Antisemitism: Modern Jewish Responses, p. 306
World War II and the Holocaust During World War II, Betar members, including former Polish Army officers, founded Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (ŻZW; "Jewish Military Union"), which fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Mordechai Anielewicz, the head of the other major uprising group, Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB; "Jewish Combat Organization"), also gained his military training in Betar. He was the secretary of the prominent Betar Warsaw organization in 1938. He left it to join and quickly take leadership of the left-wing Zionist Hashomer Hatzair group in Warsaw.
In the summer of 1941, Julek (Joel/Jakób) Brandt, a Betar leader from Chorzów who was a relative of Samuel Brandt, the chairman of the Hrubieszów Judenrat (Jewish Council), arranged for several hundred Betar members from the Warsaw Ghetto to work on local farms and estates, including one in Dłużniów and Werbkowice. Most of the Betar youth were killed in the spring of 1942 and in subsequent months, together with the local Jewish population, but a few returned to the ghetto and later took part in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in the ranks of the ŻZW. Brandt escaped from a transport heading for the death camp at Sobibor. He was denounced by local peasants, who turned him over to the Gestapo in Hrubieszów. There, he was put to work by Gestapo Obersturmbannführer Ebner, who named him chief of a small work camp. At the end of 1942 or the beginning of 1943, Ebner shot and killed him.Libionka, Dariusz and Weinbaum, Laurence. "A New Look at the Betar 'Idyll'", in Hrubieszów (Yad Vashem Studies), 37, 2009
Jewish fighters under the leadership of Josef Glazman, head of Betar Lithuania, battled the Nazis alongside the Lithuanian partisans in the forests outside 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.
From 1937 to 1944, Betar aided the widespread immigration of Jews to Palestine in violation of the British Mandate's immigration quotas, which had not been increased despite the surge of refugees from the Nazi persecution and murder of Jews. In total, as part of Operation Action, Betar was, according to one of its organisers, William R. Perl, partly responsible for smuggling an estimated 40,000 Jews into Palestine under such restrictions. Perl, William R. Operation Action – Rescue From The Holocaust. Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. New York, 1983.
Armed struggle in Mandatory Palestine In 1938, David Raziel became the head of both Betar and the Irgun Zvai Leumi ("National Military Organisation", known as "Etzel"). The Irgun's anthem was the third and final verse of the Betar song. Raziel died shortly into World War II, while taking part in a failed British sabotage mission against German interests in the Habbaniyeh area of Iraq's Anbar Province.
The tactics of the Irgun-Betar coalition were at odds with the mainstream Zionist establishment's policy of restraint in response to Arab attacks. For most of the 1930s and '40s, the two organizations typically bombed collections of Arab civilians in response to any attack of any kind on any Palestinian Jews. 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 opposed, 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, Avraham "Yair" Stern, broke away and formed the Stern Group, later renamed LEHI (Lohamei Herut Yisrael, "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 before World War II, 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 1948–49 war that established the initial borders of the newly proclaimed state of Israel. Betar and the Irgun remained functionally intermingled, consistently sharing leadership and manpower. By contrast, the Haganah, the official defense organization of the Jewish Agency, and its military wing, the Palmach, had practically no Betar members.
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, Eri, at the time a member of the Betar World Executive.
Decline and modern era Since the 1970s, Betar has suffered a decline in membership and activities. 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 the 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.
In the early 21st century, Betar had around 21,000 members globally.
Legacy in Israeli politics Many of Israel's most prominent conservatives were "graduates" of Betar, including former prime ministers Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, and Ehud Olmert, and former Defense Minister Moshe Arens. Former Likud/Kadima minister (in several offices) Tzipi Livni MK was a youth Betarist. Yoel Hasson MK was formerly national head of Betar in Israel. Livni and Hasson later formed Hatnuah, which in 2015 allied with Labor in the center-left Zionist Union. Israel's current Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, is a Betarist and a former leader of the World Betar Organization.
Global chapters
Africa
South Africa
Once one of the largest youth movements in South Africa, Betar South Africa has since dwindled greatly. Headquartered in Johannesburg, the group used to host a 3-week summer camp each December and annual programs to send youth to Israel. Like Betar Australia, Betar South Africa saw many of its members permanently emigrate to Israel.
Tunisia The group was active in Tunisia and published several periodicals, including Cahiers du Bétar. Australia
Betar Australia is an active movement with branches in Melbourne, Sydney, and Queensland. Each of these branches organizes many activities, functions, and Jewish youth camps in each state. Betar Australia is a member of the Australasian Zionist Youth Council.
Betar Australia was initially established in Melbourne and branched out to New South Wales (Sydney) and Queensland (Brisbane). 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. Later, in 1953, Betar expanded to Sydney where Betar NSW was established by Jewish immigrants from China such as their first mefaked (director) Hans Dreyer and Bob Shteinman. Further, Betar expanded to Canberra and Brisbane, although the Canberra branch did not continue to stay active. The Queensland branch celebrated its 50th reunion in 2006.