What is "betar"

The Betar Movement (בית"ר, also spelled Beitar or, early in its history, Bitar) is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. Chapters sprang up across Europe, even during World War II. After the war and during the settlement of what became Israel, Betar was traditionally linked to the original Herut and then Likud political parties of Jewish pioneers. It was closely affiliated with the pre-Israel Revisionist Zionist splinter group Irgun Zevai Leumi. It was one of many right-wing movements and youth groups arising at that time that adopted salutes and uniforms. Some of the most prominent politicians of Israel were Betarim in their youth, most notably prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin, an admirer of Jabotinsky.

Today, Betar promotes Jewish leadership on university campuses as well as in local communities. Its history of empowering Jewish youth dates back to before the State of Israel. Throughout World War II, Betar 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. Across Europe, Betar militia played major roles in independently resisting Nazi forces and other various assaults on Jewish communities.

Betar may mean:

• In Hebrew (ביתר):
  • Betar (fortress), the last Jewish fort held in the Bar Kokhba's revolt
  • Betar (youth movement), a Revisionist Zionist youth movement
  • Battir, a Palestinian village in the West Bank
  • Beitar Illit, a city in the West Bank
  • Mevo Betar, Jerusalem area town
  • Beitar Jerusalem FC, a Jerusalem-based Football Club
  • Beitar Tel Aviv, a Tel Aviv-based Football Club in existence until the end of the 1990s
• In Bengali (বেতার):
  • wireless or without wires
  • Bangladesh Betar, the state-owned radio broadcaster in Bangladesh.
• Bitar (surname)

Betar fortress was an ancient, terraced farming village in the Judean highlands. 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.

The site of historic Betar (also spelled Beitar or Bethar), next to the modern Palestinian village of Battir, southwest of Jerusalem, is known as Khirbet al-Yahud in Arabic (meaning "ruin of the Jews"). Today, the Israeli settlement and city Beitar Illit is also located nearby.