Betar USA

Betar USA is a chapter of the worldwide Zionist youth organization Betar, founded by early Zionist thinker and philosopher Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1923. The U.S. chapter of Betar, which was revived in June 2023, adopts the far-right Kahanist slogan calling for Jewish armament, “Every Jew, a .22,” openly embraces Islamophobia and harasses Muslims online and in person. The group has indicated that they would like to work with the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group with a history of antisemitism and Islamophobia, to “counter Islamic jihadis.”

Betar USA encourages Jewish people to “fight back” in the streets against antisemitism with “aggressive in-person protests.” It has posted footage of these actions online alongside inciting images of baseball bats. In February 2025, it posted a video of an individual shouting Islamophobic slurs outside of a mosque with the caption, “We protest mosques.” Some of Betar USA’s tactics include handing out "beepers" to anti-Israel individuals (a reference to the September 2024 pager attack against Hezbollah by the Mossad) and confronting Muslim and Arab protestors at rallies, often taking photographs of them to send to ICE and government officials with the intention of prompting their deportation. More escalatory tactics of Betar USA include vandalism (they call themselves vandals) as well as burning and tearing down Palestinian flags. Betar USA has also encouraged supporters and members to “mask up” when committing acts of vandalism or protesting.