Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, announced a settlement agreement with Betar US on Tuesday, drawing criticism of a double standard for not taking similar legal action against anti-Israel groups.
The settlement came after the attorney general “found that the group repeatedly targeted individuals based on religion and national origin,” her office stated. It added that its investigation turned up “evidence of Betar’s widespread persecution of Muslim, Arab, Palestinian and Jewish New Yorkers, driven by broad hostility and animus toward several protected groups, in violation of New York civil rights laws.”
“The settlement requires Betar to immediately cease instigating or encouraging violence against individuals, threatening protesters and harassing individuals exercising their civil rights, and subjects the organization to a suspended $50,000 penalty that will be enforced if Betar violates the agreement,” the state attorney general’s office said.
“Betar is seeking to dissolve its not-for-profit corporation and has indicated” to the office that “it is winding down operations in New York,” it said.
Daniel Levy, a spokesman for Betar, stated that the organization “denies all allegations of wrongdoing.”
“Founded in 1923 by Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Betar is among the oldest and most influential Zionist movements in the world,” he said. “Betar represents mainstream Zionism and has played a foundational role in the establishment and defense of the State of Israel. Without Betar, the modern Jewish state would not exist.”
Levy added that “Betar proudly calls upon Zionists everywhere to come home to Israel” and that “Betar US is a Delaware-based nonprofit organization, headquartered within the Betar Worldwide offices in Israel.”
Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, told JNS that “James should be pursuing the actual extremist groups that harass and attack Jews and call for the death of every Jew,” which he said are groups like Within Our Lifetime and Students for Justice in Palestine.
Betar, on the other hand, is “a storied organization that defends Jews who are attacked by anti-Jewish groups,” he said.
Klein said James’s “aggressive pursuit of Betar and resulting settlement agreement sends a terrible message that defending Jews makes one an ‘extremist’” and that the charges against Betar are “highly distorted.”
“This will encourage more attacks on Jews and discourage Jewish self-defense,” he said.
‘Dozens of psycho Hamas groups’
Tal Fortgang, a legal policy fellow at the Manhattan Institute, stated that if the New York attorney general thought Betar’s actions were bad, “just wait until you hear about vandalisms, blocking roads, explicit national origin-based harassment, ‘we need to make them scared’ and FACE Act violations.” (He referred to a statement made at an antisemitic protest outside Park East Synagogue in Manhattan and the law that bars people from intimidating people outside houses of worship.)
“There are literally dozens of psycho Hamas groups roaming around New York City causing chaos who have faced zero legal scrutiny from these people—and naturally, we all know why,” stated Jon Levine, a Washington Free Beacon reporter. “It won’t stop Betar,” he added.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has said he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in the city, said that “Betar has sowed a campaign of hatred across New York, trafficking in Islamophobic extremism and harassing those with whom they disagreed.”
“Curious about any coming legal action targeting Within Our Lifetime, SJP, People’s Forum and other organizations that have organized large-scale public campaigns of violence, harassment and hate targeting Jewish institutions and New Yorkers since Oct. 7, 2023,” Tablet magazine stated.
