NEW YORK — New York State Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday announced a settlement with the far-right Jewish group Betar, stating that Betar will halt its activities in the state.
A statement from James said Betar had “repeatedly targeted individuals based on religion and national origin,” including Muslims, Arabs, Palestinians and Jews.
“New York will not tolerate organizations that use fear, violence, and intimidation to silence free expression or target people because of who they are,” James said in a statement.
Betar said it “denies all allegations of wrongdoing.”
“Betar is mainstream Zionism, an organization without which the State of Israel would not exist,” a spokesperson told The Times of Israel. “We urge Zionists to come home to Israel.”
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James’s statement said the settlement requires Betar to halt encouraging violence, threats and harassment. The settlement subjected the group to a suspended $50,000 fine that it will need to pay if it does not comply with the agreement. Betar will need to file annual compliance reports for three years attesting that it has not violated the agreement.
Betar was registered as a nonprofit in New York, but is seeking to dissolve its nonprofit status and told James’s office that it is “winding down” operations in New York, although this was not required by the settlement.
The group solicited donations in New York, but did not register as a charity with James’s office, the report said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press briefing, February 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
An investigation by James’s office that started in March found that Betar had encouraged violence on social media, saying, “We are at war. Violence is needed.”
The report cited other statements, such as referring to keffiyehs as “rape rags” and saying that Muslims “hate America.”
On social media, Betar said it hated Gazans, said, “We demand blood in Gaza,” and shared videos it said were members trespassing onto private property to steal Palestinian flags and burning the flags.
In a WhatsApp chat, Betar members said they “kicked terrorist ass” and got “punches in” at a vitriolic protest in a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn last year, the report said.
The group also posted a video of what it said was a member hitting a woman at a protest, and footage of a member yelling at a person in a keffiyeh.
Last year, group members handed beepers to anti-Israel activists, a reference to Israel’s pager attack against Hezbollah around that time, the report said.
Betar also feuded with other Jewish groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League and New York activist Shai Davidai, whom Betar said were too conciliatory. The ADL put Betar on its database of extremist groups, the only Jewish organization on the list.
James’s office said Betar had violated New York civil rights law by assaulting and threatening people due to their identities and by stealing and burning property.
Counterprotesters shout at anti-Israel demonstrators in Boro Park, Brooklyn, February 18, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
“This behavior is unacceptable, and it is not who we are as New Yorkers. My office will continue to use every tool available to protect all New Yorkers’ civil rights and public safety,” James said in a statement.
Betar presents itself as a new incarnation of the early Revisionist Zionist militia of the same name led by Ze’ev Jabotinsky.
“We are loud, proud, aggressive, and unapologetically Zionist — online and offline. We speak clearly. We act decisively,” the group says on its website.
It’s unclear what actual effect James’s settlement will have, or how much of a presence Betar has had on New York’s streets. The group has not released information about membership. James’s settlement showed that a Betar representative agreed to the arrangement while residing in Israel and the group’s account on X is based in Israel.
An Internal Revenue Service document showed that Betar received nonprofit status in July 2024 and had under $50,000 in assets, but further documents were not available.
Right-wing Jews showed up to counter-protest at anti-Zionist demonstrations before Betar’s registration in New York in 2024, and the make-up of the counter-demonstrators has not shifted in a significant way since. The right-wing protesters are a loose network, not part of a formal group.
At several protests last year, around the time of Betar-related controversies, The Times of Israel was unable to locate anyone identifying as a Betar member. The group’s insignia does not appear at the protests.
One regular pro-Israel counter-protester in New York City said on Tuesday that the group’s activities were mostly confined to “content-making” on social media.
“It’s not like they have membership cards,” the activist said. “I don’t know how she can shut down something where there’s no membership.”
“Why don’t they go after Within Our Lifetime, who’s actually creating havoc on our streets, or Pal-Awda?” she added, referring to two hardline anti-Zionist groups. Activists affiliated with Within Our Lifetime have assaulted Jews in New York and Pal-Awda deploys violent rhetoric during protests at synagogues.
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