Betar

Betar or Beitar is a Zionist youth organization (Latvia ) was established by the Revisionist Zionist Ze'ev Jabotinsky in 1923 in Riga and can be considered as a precursor of the Israeli Herut and Likud parties.

The name Betar is an abbreviation for " Brit Yosef Trumpeldor ", German "Bund Yosef Trumpeldor ". Joseph Trumpeldor had participated in the First World War along with Jabotinsky at establishment of a Jewish unit (the " Jewish Legion" ), which fought as part of the British Army at the Battle of Gallipoli and later in Palestine. In 1920, he had fallen in the defense of the exposed Jewish settlement of Tel Hai against Arab attackers. Unlike Trumpeldor, who followed a Zionist socialism, but Jabotinsky was a member of the revisionist wing of the Zionist movement.

During the Second World War established members Betars the Żydowski Związek Wojskowy ( Jewish Military Union ), who participated in the defense of the Warsaw Ghetto.

The Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir and Ehud Olmert were or are former members of Betar, as well as the former Defense Minister Moshe Arens.

Beitar occurs as a sports association and work even in the names of some football clubs, the most important Beitar Jerusalem is. The associations with " Beitar " in the name are politically oriented to the right, while the clubs with " HaPo ʿ el " apply in the association name rather than the left.