France-Israel: what is Betar, this Jewish movement which is organizing a rally in Paris on the eve of the match?

Gathering at risk, this Wednesday, November 13 in the evening, in Paris. The international Jewish movement Betar will organize a demonstration alongside the Movement of Jewish Students of France (UEJF). The location and time have not been disclosed. The objective is to display the fight against anti-Semitism. “We are proud Zionists and have no reason to apologize,” says World Betar President Ygal Brand, a week after the violence in Amsterdam where Jews were targeted.

The date was not chosen at random since the gathering takes place on the eve of the France-Israel football match in the Nations League. The meeting, deemed high risk, will mobilize more than 4,000 police officers.

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France-Israel: fear of excesses, an exceptional police force… Why the match arouses great concern

A violent movement in the past

Betar is the youth wing of Likud, the far-right nationalist party of Benjamin Netanyahu in power in Israel. Founded in 1923, well before the State of Israel, it is present in around thirty countries around the world and especially active in Israel and the United States. In France, it has between 300 and 500 members, specifies RTL. Betar organizes marches, conferences on Jewish national identity or training, often in a paramilitary manner, for young adults and adolescents.

If the Jewish movement has been discreet in recent years, it called for the murder of Arabs on Twitter in 2016 after an attack in Tel Aviv, a tweet since deleted. In 1988 in Paris, some of its members hit anti-Zionist or pro-Palestinian demonstrators in a rally, as shown in these INA archive images. Today, Betar is a movement favorable to “the creation of a great State of Israel”, explains to Parisian Frédéric Encel, professor at Science-Po Paris.

An “Israel is forever” gala

Also in Paris, on the eve of the France-Israel football match, a gala called “Israel is forever” is planned for this Wednesday evening. The location is kept secret. It is organized by Franco-Israeli personalities. The association behind the gala is chaired by radical Zionist activist Jacques Kupfer.

Pro-Israel gala: “I will not ban this demonstration,” says Laurent Nuñez, Paris police prefect pic.twitter.com/7fFmjiShyR

— BFMTV (@BFMTV)

The Paris police headquarters authorized the gala which, according to police prefect Laurent Nuñez, does not represent a risk of disturbance to public order. Against this gala, several left-wing political parties (LFI, EELV, NPA) are calling for a parade between the Saint-Lazare station and the Place de la République in Paris. SOS Racisme is planning a rally of its own.